The Blue Rose 3: The Awakening
by SPDudley
Summary: The third and final installment, taking place immediately after Sacrifices of the Heart. NERV comes under new management as the Evangelions and their pilots are pitted in a global war against a resurgent SEELE
1. Proogue: Awakening

_Thule__ Island, if it could be called that, was a small rocky outcropping that was roughly equidistant between Iceland, Norway, and Greenland. Long the subject of territorial claims by several nations, in the disaster following Second Impact the United Nations took possession of the small island and declared it international territory. Some years later high-placed officials asked the UN for possession of the place, for the purposes of installing "surveillance and support" equipment in support of NERV's Angel defense mission. The UN ceded the territory to NERV, whose European-based Third Branch then built a very small unmanned installation on the island. _

_The island was barely visited since NERV had taken it over, save for infrequent trips by maintenance staff to check various components of sensors mounted there. When the Angels began their attacks in the middle of 2015, there was one expedition to the installation that expanded the facility and placed something else inside, and then the island was abandoned. A combination of sensors and automatic defense measures that included land mines and unmanned gun emplacements kept unwanted visitors at bay._

_After both NERV and the UN collapsed at the advent of Third Impact, the little island was forgotten about. Virtually anyone at NERV or its branches who knew about it was either dead or captured, and with the massive damage to the GeoFront facility at Tokyo-3 and a problematic transition to new management what remained of NERV had far too much on its hands to worry about such a minor outpost._

_Not everyone had forgotten about Thule Island, however. In the early dawn a small group of catamaran boats sailed quickly to the island in the cold, rough waters of the North Atlantic._

_Landing on the shore, the boats disgorged about twenty soldiers and sailors onto the rocky beaches. Dressed in black uniforms and heavily armed, the soldiers fanned out on the beach as one of them operated a computer terminal and worked on finding the islands security program and disarming it. After some time the soldier operating the terminal was successful and was able to key off the surveillance program that operated the land mines and sentries. The soldiers moved carefully onto the island, knowing that there may still be many booby-traps present._

_Marching perhaps six hundred meters from the shore, the team found the abandoned installation, which looked like nothing more than a group of grey cement blocks surrounding a pyramid made of concrete and steel. The small group examined the set of structures and pyramid, and again consulted the computer terminal, which showed them the functions of each structure. After confirming what he saw against the information supplied on the display, the team leader used duct tape to strap a homing device on the larger pyramid and then ordered his men to move back away carefully, following the path they took in._

_Once the team was back on the shore they took cover at the beach and then a moment later a faint jet noise was heard as a combat drone flew over them. Diving at the island the drone let go of two bombs it was carrying and then climbed rapidly as the bombs plunged into the largest pyramid in quick succession. One bomb landed a few seconds before the other, allowing the second bomb to explode within the crater caused by the first, completely exploding the pyramid from the surface._

_Once the bombs were clear the black-clad soldiers moved back into the complex of structures. Blowing up the pyramid revealed a cement staircase, damaged from the blast but still passable, that led deep under the structure. The team leader looked at the thing and realized the whole complex was not unlike some sort of Egyptian tomb, and what they were doing on behalf of their masters was akin to grave robbing._

_The leader and several men moved carefully down the stairs, watching out for traps along the way. The information they were provided about the underground chamber was accurate and after deactivating the last line of defenses inside they made their way to a dark room at the bottom of the pyramid._

_Lying at the middle of the round room was a black sarcophagus. Large and cylindrical in shape, it was made of polished black metal, and emblazoned with various logos. The team leader saw another marker printed in large print on one side that said simply:_

_KAWORU-02_

_The technician plugged in his terminal to the black coffin and worked at deactivating the final lock. A moment later the black cylinder rolled open its outer shell. The leader and others in the team peered inside curiously to see what the ultimate objective of their treasure hunt was. _

_The inside cylinder, which was about two meters in length, had a thick glass surface through which could be seen a red-orange liquid that filled the cylinder. Contained in the LCL was the slender, naked body of a teenaged boy. His eyes were open and his mouth held in a frozen smile, but he was lifeless and unmoving, as if he were frozen in time. The other soldiers looked at each other in amazement as the team leader began texting information to his superiors on his communicator._

_Within a couple of hours the team of men labored to bring the cylinder to the surface of the island, where a helicopter waited above them. Strapped onto a cargo harness, the helicopter lifted the cylinder to a larger ship waiting nearby. The package would then travel through several other means to reach its final destination, where waited the old men who had put the recovery into motion. The men had important plans for the clone body, plans that would ultimately bring about the final battle for the future of mankind._


	2. Chapter 1: New Foundations

**_Tokyo-3, Japan_**

Misato Katsuragi sat outside the conference room, nervously twitching her legs like a five-year-old waiting for her mother. It was a habit that had since she was young and while she tried to keep herself from being nervous sometimes her legs just seemed to have a mind of their own.

She sat there at the end of a row of chairs in front of the conference room wall, located in the middle levels of the underground GeoFront fortress in Tokyo-3. Dressed in a khaki NERV officer's uniform with a red leather jacket and beret, Misato worked at maintaining decorum for what she knew would be one of the most important meetings in her life.

A dark-skinned woman dressed in blue and green camouflage came out of the conference room. "Major," she said in English, "you can come in now." Misato stood up and straightened out her uniform, and then promptly walked inside.

The conference room was small and relatively plain, with no windows but instead large photos of the Japanese landscape on the walls. A large table stood in the center with a polished black marble surface, a NERV fig-leaf logo engraved in the middle with Robert Browning's memorable motto inscribed next to it: "God's in His Heaven. All's Right with the World." _How wrong that had been_, she thought to herself.

On one side of the conference room were six chairs, in five of which were seated senior officers of the Alliance of Free Nations, the current "custodian" of the GeoFront. In the sixth chair sat the woman who had called her in, who now pulled out a laptop and started to type. Misato sat alone on the opposite side of the table from the officers. Looking around the room she saw that despite attempts to clean the room up there were still large black stains on the walls, the result of the recent battle between NERV, the Japanese Strategic Self-Defense Force (or JSSDF), and the Alliance. During the battle several unarmed NERV staff members had tried to take shelter inside the room, only to be killed by JSSDF commandos with orders to execute all NERV staff they found. All of those now in the room were well aware of that fact, and that tempered their thoughts as they began the interview.

Seated in the middle of the group of officers was Admiral William Vinson, the military commander of the Alliance forces in Tokyo-3 and a former US Navy SEAL. Broad-shouldered and muscular, he looked like he could still play American football even at his fifty years of age. On Vinson's left side was Colonel Adam Burke, dark-skinned and himself nearly the size of a Sumo wrestler. The two commanders and the other officers all wore blue and green camouflage uniforms. Burke started the meeting by paging through a manila folder that contained Misato's professional records.

The colonel addressed Misato politely in English. "Good Afternoon, Major Katsuragi."

"Good Afternoon, Colonel." The NERV officer stood up straight and smiled slightly, transforming herself into the professional side of her personality.

"We've read through your records and I have to say it's quite impressive, even before your time here at Tokyo-3."

"Thank you, sir," she replied in slightly accented English.

"Graduate of Tokyo-2 University with High Honors. Bachelor's Degree in Child Psychology. Then you took a position at NERV immediately afterward."

"Yes, sir."

"After initial military training, where you were at the top of your class, you were assigned first to NERV tactical operations and then to Germany, where you were a pilot controller for two years."

Memories of her first time living with Asuka came to mind, mostly happy ones. "Yes, I was."

"Then after taking the Command Officer's course, where again you were on top, you were assigned here to run EVA operations." Misato nodded politely, still with a slight smile.

"Why did you join NERV?" Burke asked her.

Misato was direct. "I wanted revenge for my father. He was killed during Second Impact."

"I wasn't going to mention it, but you were _there_ with the Katsuragi Expedition, correct."

She blinked back less pleasant memories. "I was."

Burke was nonchalant. "That certainly gives you a unique perspective on things, doesn't it?" Misato again nodded. "Do you feel as you got the revenge you were seeking?" he asked her.

Misato paused for a moment. "No. My perspective changed as a part of my experience here. Once I found the truth about what happened, revenge ceased to be my motive."

"Then what became your motive?" the colonel asked her.

"I needed to protect the pilots," she replied. "That became my overriding goal."

"Beyond fighting the Angels?"

"I knew if I presented the truth to anyone on the outside, it was highly unlikely it would see the light of day, such was the control over the program that both Commander Ikari and SEELE had. But in working with EVA and seeing how they functioned and interacted with the pilots, I knew that EVA had a mind and a heart of its own. If I just made sure that the pilot and EVA were together at the right time, somehow things would work out."

"That's quite a gamble," Burke commented.

"It's more like faith," Misato replied. "I think at that low point it was all I had left."

Everyone on the room was quiet for a while, except for the stenographer who was busy typing in everything at the far end of the room. Misato sat there silently at attention as Burke thumbed through the rest of her file, then closed the folder and nodded to Admiral Vinson. Vinson then folded his hands in front of him and leaned forward on the table towards Misato.

"Major Katsuragi," he began, "I'll be direct. Since the Alliance has taken over operations with the EVA in cooperation with the new Japanese government, we are in need of personnel who have experience in working with the Evangelions. Certainly none has come to us with a more qualified background than yourself." Misato allowed herself a small smile as Vinson continued. "We are prepared to offer you a very generous compensation in exchange for your services, if that's alright with you."

"Actually, Admiral," Misato said, "I had something additional in mind."

Burke raised his eyebrows as he and Vinson looked at each other. Vinson took a deep breath. "Alright, what is it that you're proposing?"

Misato's smiled broadened.

After the meeting Misato sat at a nearby waiting room, an iced coffee in her hand. Walking up to her from down the hallway was Ryoji Kaji, dressed in a black business suit. As part of his earlier escape from NERV to alter his appearance and identity Kaji had to cut his hair, losing his coveted ponytail. Despite that Misato thought he still looked quite handsome, and it wasn't every day she got to see him suited up like he was now. The agent stopped and sat down next to Misato.

"So, how did it go?" he asked her.

"I don't know yet. They're still considering my proposal."

"In relative terms you're not asking for that much," Kaji told her. "But some of the conditions you've given might be difficult for them to fulfill."

"If they're going to be responsible for EVA from this point forward, it's in their benefit to be more open about what happened," she told him. "I'm only looking for a way to facilitate that."

Kaji leaned his head back on the chair. "Are you suggesting that they give guided tours of Terminal Dogma?"

Misato chuckled. "I'm suggesting that it would be better to be upfront about what EVA was and why everything happened. Everyone's scared right now, and people are hungry for more information. If the Alliance is willing they can be the heroes in this."

The agent placed his chin in his hand in deep thought. "From working with them," he told her, "I've no doubt that the Alliance sees the value in what you're proposing. The difficulty is that SEELE is still out there and their resources are no doubt quite vast, their determination equally so. The Alliance has to carefully balance its own needs for operational security with the need to grow popular support for their new regime."

"Why are you taking their side?" Misato asked, slightly annoyed. "I thought you were on board with me asking for this?"

Kaji smiled and waved her off in protest. "I'm not disagreeing with you! But just expect they may not give you everything that you want."

"I'm not naïve," Misato said and she looked around them to see if anyone else was listening. "Even I understand there are certain things, especially regarding the children, that we can't put out there. But _billions_ of people died in Second Impact and what happened afterward, and all just so some old men could try and play God. If the Alliance plays things too close to the vest we'll be back in the same place again we were before."

They both sighed and Misato reached over and grabbed Kaji's hand. "I didn't think this would be easy," she told him with a broken smile. "By the way, you look _cute_ today!"

"Cute isn't the word I'd use," Kaji said, clearly uncomfortable with his appearance. He loosened up his tie in frustration.

"How did it go with the Japanese government?"

"Difficult. There's still a lot of mistrust of the Alliance and their intentions. Even with the offer of joint control and benefiting from what is likely to be a cornucopia of technological advances from NERV's research, many are concerned that the Alliance will just use EVA as a military platform. They're worried about the consequences of having Japan as the base for their operations."

"Meaning we're target #1 for SEELE."

"Exactly." Kaji reached for his cigarettes.

"Given what happened nothing would change that, even if the Alliance hadn't have taken over the GeoFront," Misato said.

"That is also true," Kaji remarked as he looked around for a place he could smoke. "But there's fear about how far SEELE would go to gain back control, especially as Evangelion is now out in the open. The greatest concern is that the Alliance's actions would provoke a SEELE attack on Japan and then the Alliance would abandon it, taking the EVAs with them. There's also difficulty in reaching agreement between the Alliance and the government on political terms. To win this upcoming conflict both Japan and the Alliance will have to go 'all-in' on the partnership, but bridging that trust gap will be a significant challenge. As the Americans would say, it's a shotgun marriage."

"True," Misato mused. "But the consequences for not doing this are even worse."

"Correct. And while we're squabbling the other side is no doubt preparing something quite foul."

**_SEELE-2_**

The chairman was pivoted into place by his long-time assistant, a thin, older man of Slavic descent who had been his manservant for decades. Piotr snapped his motorized wheelchair into place on the floor and then left without being asked. The lights were adjusted and the chairman could see around the room. It was not his usual office, that place had been evacuated in an unduly rush as the Alliance had found the SEELE Chairman's hidden lair in the German Alps and were on the way to assault it when his subordinates had moved him out. Long being the one to foresee things, the Chairman had provided for an escape route and an alternate hiding place from any intruders and now a fortnight later and after thousands of miles of travel he sat inside of the deep underground chambers that SEELE now occupied, and put his full mind to his next move.

Keel knew his body was dying. He had been able to keep it alive through innumerable interventions of all kinds but finally it was reaching the end of the line. To achieve the dream he was given, to climb the ladder from humanity into godhood he would not have much time, and this latest setback was unforeseen as there had been treachery within as well as without. Still there was hope let to him, and time to prove to his enemies that he had plenty of life left in his crumbling body. He pushed a series of buttons on his desk and the lights in the room went out. The faces of the other remaining members of SEELE, now numbering only five, appeared to him projected on beams of light.

"We have awakened," he said to the others. "They have bled us but not killed us. Let us again take the path that we started on so long ago, and this time let nothing stop us!"

**_Berlin, Germany_**

Shinji looked out the windows of their taxicab as it pulled through the large iron gates as they opened. The gates to Asuka's family's house were ornate, with intricate designs incorporated with the letter "L", and gold leaf spread throughout. He looked in amazement as they drove slowly on what appeared to be a very long driveway. The driveway itself was lined with tall fir trees on both sides and went on for over half a kilometer to the mansion in front.

"Wow," Shinji said to Asuka. "I didn't know you lived in a place like this?" For her part Asuka was not herself impressed, but instead had a very uncomfortable look on her face.

"It's _their_ house," she said with a frown. "I haven't really lived her for years!"

"Still," he said, "It's awfully nice." The redhead just went "humph" and crossed her legs again.

The Mercedes taxi pulled up to the front of the house. The mansion was built in an older, classic style three stories high, and accented by gray marble columns. To Shinji it looked like something built for a prince or duke and he began to wonder just how rich Asuka's family actually was.

Standing in front of the house was a brown-haired middle-aged woman dressed in a purple, fashionable yet conservative dress. Around her were a small group of house servants, dressed in black and white uniforms. As the car approached the front steps, Asuka turned to Shinji. "Whatever you do," she told him sternly, "don't do or say anything more stupid than usual!"

"Uh, Got it!" Shinji replied.

The taxi stopped at the foot of the front steps, which were built of marble with a red carpet laid along the middle. First to exit the taxi was Hideyoshi Kikuchi, the pilots' bodyguard for this trip and a childhood friend of Kaji's. Wearing a black suit with dark sunglasses, the tall, unemotional Kikuchi walked to the trunk of the taxi and started to remove luggage. Asuka was next to get out, wearing a conservative black dress with broad white collars, and red mary jane shoes with frilly white ankle socks. Her flaming red hair was done in the usual way with long tails, held by her red-colored A10 nerve sensors.

Asuka stepped out onto the red carpet and her scowl immediately transformed into a broad smile. "Mama!" She cried, holding out her arms for the older woman. Asuka's stepmother walked forward to embrace her.

"Asuka!" the woman said, giving her an embracing but loose hug. "We're so glad you're back!" she said in German. The two of them kissed each other on the cheeks.

"I'm glad to be back!" Asuka replied cheerfully, also in German. Asuka noticed that behind her Shinji had exited from the taxi. He was wearing a black sport coat with a collared shirt and slacks, and looked very uncomfortable in them. She paid his expression no mind and quickly grabbed his arm. "Mama," she said to the woman, "let me introduce Shinji."

The woman's eyes went wide when they saw the boy. "Oh, Asuka!" the woman exclaimed, "He's so cute!" The woman then stepped forward in front of Shinji.

"Hello!" she said in very badly-pronounced Japanese. "How are you?"

"I'm fine, thank you," Shinji said in equally bad German. "It's nice to meet you!"

"Ah! You speak German?" the woman said.

Shinji blushed with embarrassment. "Well, only a little!" In the previous week before their trip Asuka had actually been trying to give him a crash course in the language.

"Excellent! You must be tired after such a long journey!" the woman said. "Please let's all go inside."

Asuka's stepmother led the pilots through the front door and into the foyer. Shinji looked around and saw that the inside of the mansion looked just as ornate as the outside, with black and white marble floors and high ceilings accented with columns. Old paintings that looked like they belonged in museums lined the walls, and a large crystal chandelier hung above them.

"_Fraulein_ Langley" one of the servants said to the woman, "the rooms for the two Japanese are prepared."

"Ah, very good. Asuka, dear, would you please show them to their rooms upstairs? It's the guest bedrooms on the eastern wing."

"Yes, Mama," she replied. "Come on," she said and started up a large spiral staircase next to the foyer. Asuka took Shinji by the hand and led him upstairs. A manservant offered to their luggage, but Kikuchi politely refused, pretending that he spoke no German. The bodyguard promptly followed the two, carrying three suitcases with him.

The two of them reached the third floor and walked down a hallway with several rooms. Like the rest of the mansion, the guest rooms were luxurious with an Old World flavor. Shinji's guest room was larger than Misato's entire apartment, furnished with dressers, chairs and tables made of polished wood, and with a huge poster bed in the middle. Red-colored drapes covered the windows, while long mirrors decorated the walls.

"You look like you're about to keel over," Asuka whispered to Shinji, the frown back on her face. "Here, take a breather for a while. I'll come get you in a bit."

Shinji had to admit to himself he was tired from the jet lag. "OK. Asuka?"

"What?" she replied, clearly still on edge.

"Why do you call her 'Mama'?"

Her face hardened even further. "It's for show. Don't think it's anything personal." Without another word she turned around and left the room.

Shinji took off his jacket and looked around the room a bit, and then went to the bathroom to refresh himself. Like the rest of the guest room the bathroom was ornate, with gold inlaid hardware and fixtures and marble tile underneath. He felt afraid just to use anything in it, but managed to wash up and then loosen up his shirt. Within another minute he slipped off his shoes and plopped on the bed, falling fast asleep in the comfortable goose down mattress.

**_Sea of Japan_**

Evangelion Unit 04 stood on the ocean-going platform as it was towed by the ship in front of her. Five hundred yards ahead of the EVA an Alliance amphibious ship dragged a set of steel cables behind it that were hooked on to the edge of the platform, pulling the Evangelion through the water in a way that reminded the pilot of slow-motion water skiing.

Patrick Forrestal sat in the entry plug and looked out the video display at his surroundings. They were in the South Japan Sea, among a group of Alliance military vessels as part of a training exercise. It was the third day of the maneuvers, designed to get the Alliance conventional military units familiar with operating with their new EVAs, and vice-versa. As he looked around, he saw that the sea was calm and the sun shining, the wind blew gently on the ocean waves and Patrick thought to himself that it was completely inappropriate weather for war training. Nonetheless his part in the exercises was nearly complete, which made him look forward to spending more time later with his fellow pilot.

A voice came through the plug speakers. "Unit 04, this is Task Force command. Exercise will commence in sixty seconds."

"Roger that, command." Patrick moved the EVA forward on the floating platform as the ship towing it cut off its cables and veered sharply to the right. Turning behind him, he saw the rest of the fleet behind him as klaxons begin to sound.

In this last exercise, EVA-04's task was to defend the fleet behind him from a missile barrage fired from another ship fifty nautical miles away. The job seemed simple enough, as the incoming missiles would just be training dummies and not armed with live warheads. His orders were, however, to ensure that there were no "leakers" that got by him. Success would be indicated by a perfect score, anything else was considered failure.

Unit 04 reached over and grabbed a giant rotary cannon from the platform deck, cradling it in its arms and preparing to fire on the incoming missile wave. "Unit 04 ready!" he called out. "Test begins now," the voice came back.

For a few seconds there was no sign of any activity and Patrick just scanned the skies looking for targets. But then he saw a smoke trail and then another, and soon after he spotted about twelve missiles coming into to the group and moving very, very fast.

"Engaging now," he said, and he promptly started firing the rotary cannon at each missile as it came in.

Watching the faux combat from a control center inside the flagship was the Alliance's naval commander, Admiral Gato. The older man studied the computer and video displays as Unit 04 worked to deal with the new threat, as the Evangelion knocked out missile after missile that sped towards the fleet.

"How's he doing, sir?" a younger officer asked him.

"He's only knocked down twelve targets and used up half his ammo already," Gato replied. "I think he has a surprise coming."

Patrick worked to engage each target in turn, giving each missile a lengthy blast from the rotary cannon. By his own track he had cut down sixteen so far, but then his eyes went to the display and instead of seeing just a few smoke trails he now saw dozens more. _Oh-oh._

Faced with the larger missile wave oncoming, Patrick tried to concentrate his fire more accurately, to quickly blast each one and then move to the next target. After a few seconds he noticed the change in tactics was effective, but he was quickly running out of ammo on his cannon. After scoring forty kills the display in front of him indicated "AMMO LOW' and he still saw more and more smoke trails coming in fast."

_My God, does the Alliance have this many targets to just throw at me? _ The pilot quickly worked out an alternate strategy and used up the rest of his ammo on as many targets as he could spot. After fifty hits his rotary cannon gave out and he promptly tossed it aside and grabbed the Pallet Gun that was lying on the ocean platform.

Focusing as much as he could, Patrick hit as many missiles with the Pallet Gun as he was able to. Even the pallet gun was trouble as he reached sixty-five and there were still more missiles coming towards them. Dropping it after he reached the end of two clips, he grabbed the CAWS and quickly hunted for more targets. The missiles were coming in closer now, he could see the stove-pipe like flyers speeding dangerously close.

The CAWS functioned like a shotgun spreading its bullets over a wide area, which Patrick used to good effect. Within a few seconds he had made gains on the missile wave and found that he could even use a single burst from the CAWS to knock out two or three. He could feel his confidence surging as he quickly dispatched the rest of the incoming targets.

"Wow," the junior officer observed in the command room, "he's taken them all out, over a hundred in all!"  
"Not all, " the admiral pointed at the screen. "Looks like we have a leaker."

Patrick saw the stray missile too, speeding towards the platform at supersonic speed. He carefully took aim and fired, then saw the video display in the plug flash "AMMO OUT." _Oh, shit_, he thought,_ I lost track!_

He watched as the missile veered to the right and aimed towards the _Liberator_, the largest ship in the group. With all three of his guns out of ammo, he had nothing left to shoot with and quickly tried to work up a plan on how to stop the missile. _Can't let it get through, she's on board that ship. _

Without hesitating further as the missile flew by, Patrick leaped the EVA off the platform and threw himself in front of it. The missile still veered away from him and continued towards its target. Seeing that he couldn't physically block the missile Patrick concentrated hard and turned on his EVA's AT Field. The invisible field extended from the Evangelion and reached the missile, exploding it a half-second later. A large wave of water splashed around him as the AT field receded back and a second later EVA-04 plopped into the ocean.

Applause was heard in the command room from the crew as they along with Admiral Gato saw the action on the screen. Gato smiled silently to himself. _Vinson was right about these things. This will do very nicely._

Patrick swam EVA-04 over to the _Liberator_ and poked her head above the ocean as he watched the ship sail by him. Sailors and crew lined up on the railings to see the EVA, many waving to him. He waved in return as he floated in the ocean and waited for the amphibious ship to pick him up. Using his visual display he focused on the carrier's conning tower, looking for something on the top. He increased the magnification twenty-fold and found what he was looking for: a small white hat poking out of the ship. The hat covered a head that had hair of azure blue and eyes of red, and a small, round face with skin that was porcelain white. For a moment the girl looked over to where he was and he gently waived. She looked back at him and then returned to her reading. Patrick smiled as well, and started to think of better things than Evangelions and war.


	3. Chapter 2: Family Secrets

_Berlin_

Several hours later Shinji woke up and saw the sun going down through the large windows. Not wanting to just wait for Asuka to show up, he again went to the bathroom to splash water on his face and relieve himself. Putting on his jacket, Shinji walked outside the room to find Kikuchi sitting in a decorative chair in the hallway. He had been keeping watch as Shinji slept.

"Where's Asuka?" Shinji asked the bodyguard.

"She's downstairs," Kikuchi replied in a gruff voice. "She asked me to send you down when you woke up."

Shinji made for the staircase with Kikuchi walking along side. Kikuchi had seemed intimidating at first, but Kaji had well recommended him to the boy, which made him feel a lot better about having someone else along. Shinji found that while Kikuchi was often quiet when he did speak he was quite thoughtful, which for some reason reminded him of Rei.

"Nice place, isn't it?" Shinji remarked to the man.

"I've seen better," Kikuchi replied.

The boy was surprised at that. "Where?"

"In England," the bodyguard said. "There's homes there that would put this place to shame."

"Really," Shinji mused. "Still, this is a nice house."

"Where we are now used to be part of East Germany," Kikuchi said quietly as they walked down the stairs. "Anybody having a place like this in a communist country couldn't possibly be up to any good." Shinji thought about that for a while as they both continued down the staircase.

The two of them walked a not-so-short distance into a large and elaborate kitchen that Shinji figured could have easily serviced a five-star restaurant. To the side of the kitchen was a dining area that was as luxuriously appointed as the rest of the house, with polished white wood tables and chairs inlaid with gold piping. There was a table setting of the finest china, with teacups and a large pot that was intricately hand-painted with colorful paisleys. Sitting at the table were Mrs. Langley and Asuka. The pilot had changed her outfit, now wearing a white silk blouse and blue pleated skirt with polished red ballet flats. The two of them were excitedly conversing at the table when the two Japanese appeared.

"Hello, sleepyhead!" Asuka said to Shinji in a cheerful tone that he knew to be fake. She got out of her chair and gave him a quick hug, whispering in his ear in Japanese "You took long enough!"

"Sorry," he whispered back.

Asuka sat him down at the table and poured a cup of tea for him, then sat herself down again and continued her conversation. Shinji tried to follow along but his poor German allowed him to understand less than five percent of what everyone was saying and instead he just sat there drinking his tea and tried to be polite as possible as the other two talked.

"How long will you be staying with us?" Asuka's step-mother continued.

"Not very long, I'm afraid. We still have piloting duties so we won't have much time here."

"But I thought everything's now over," the woman said. "Now that the Angels are defeated isn't that the end of the program?"

"Well, it's not my department," Asuka said factually. "As long as they need me I'll just keep piloting."

"The Alliance came to Third Branch, too, you know," the woman protested. "Things got very...ugly for a while." Asuka said nothing but just kept smiling, meaning that she intended to change the subject.

Asuka's stepmother changed her tone to a more serious, direct one. "Now that you're here, shouldn't you go see your father?"

The girl couldn't completely hide her discomfort this time. "Of course, Mama."

"He's in the upstairs study," mother said and without saying another word left the table to go to the kitchen and speak to a cook that was now standing there.

Asuka got up from the table and walked briskly back to the hallway with Shinji in tow. Once she left the kitchen Shinji could see the look of consternation on her face but didn't ask why. Even in the short time he was at her family's house it was clear she considered herself an outsider in this place.

They both went back up the spiral staircase to the top floor and then Asuka led Shinji down the hallway all the way to the end. There was a single large wooden door that was closed. "Wait here," she told Shinji as they stood by the door. She then took a deep breath, shook her head a bit to get her hair in place, and knocked on the door.

"Papa?" she called softly with a charming voice. "Papa, can I come in?" she said, speaking in English.

There was a long silence but Asuka did nothing but stand in front of the door. After a minute a low voice came back "Little Asuka, is that you?"

"Yes, Papa. It's me."

"Come in, please," the voice softly replied. To Shinji the man's voice seemed tired and disoriented.

Asuka opened the door slowly, motioning to Shinji to stay out of sight, and gently walked through the doorway. She left the door open behind her.

Shinji leaned over very slightly through the doorway to get a view of who Asuka was speaking to. Sitting in the middle of the room at an ornate mahogany desk was a middle-aged man that he guessed was about fifty years of age. His hair was red as Asuka's, but was graying at the temples and thinning out. His face looked like it was handsome once, with a square jaw and large blue eyes, but there were deep wrinkles now set in. The man sat at the chair, his head leaning back and his shoulders sloped downward. His expression was one of lifelessness, staring out the doorway into nothingness.

Asuka gently walked up to the desk, holding her hands together in front of her as she spoke to him. Her bright eyes and smile betrayed none of her true feelings for the man across from her.

"So, Little Asuka," the man slowly began, "you've returned home."

"Yes, Papa."

"Did you defeat the Angels?" he asked.

"Yes, Papa, I did. Although I did have some help."

"That's good," he said in a distant tone. "You worked so hard to become a good pilot. I'm glad that you were able to come back."

The two were silent for a while, Asuka standing there in front of him and smiling while Mr. Langley determined what he wanted to say next. His mind was drifting, and he looked in front of him without really seeing what was in front of him.

"Asuka?"

"Yes, Papa?"

"Now that the Angels are defeated will you be living here again?"

She allowed herself a bigger smile. "No, Papa. I live in Japan now, with Miss Katsuragi and Mr. Kaji."

"I see," he said. "But the Angels are defeated. Surely you can come home now?"

Asuka stood her ground. "No, Papa. I'm still a pilot. I will stay with my EVA."

"That's a shame," he said slowly. "I've... neglected you for so long. I'd like to see you live here again."

"I'm sorry, Papa," she replied. "They still need me over there."

"Then I'm sorry for it," he said, now in an even sadder tone. "When will I see you again?"

_Never, if I can help it._ "I'm afraid I don't know," she said, still smiling. "I'll let Mama know when I can come back."

Her father resigned himself. "Very well, then. Please take care of yourself, Little Asuka. It's what you do best."

"Thank you, Papa." She then turned herself around and went back out the door, quietly shutting the door behind her. Shinji looked at her as her facial expression went back to her honest one, which was one of disgust.

"Bastard," she said underneath her breath as she took Shinji's hand. "Let's go."

Much later that evening Shinji took out the satellite phone that Misato had given him before the trip and made two calls. One was to Misato, mostly to check in and let her know everything was OK. Misato asked Shinji how it went today and he gave a brief recap. She then wished them well and asked for Shinji to check in again in a couple of days. Shinji's next call was to another satellite phone. That phone answered on the fourth ring.

"Hello?"

"Ayanami!" Shinji said. "Good morning!"

"It's early..." Shinji smiled at that, as even the stoic Rei had trouble getting up in the morning.

"I know, but I just wanted to check in and see how you were."

More awake now, Rei sat up in the bed."Everything is good. The smell of the ocean is very unique."

"Good, I'm glad. No trouble then?"

"No."

"How is Patrick?"  
"Forrestal-kun is OK. We drank tea and talked last night."

"Good, then."  
"How is Germany?"  
"Interesting, like nothing I've ever seen."

"Is the Second OK?"

"She's fine. She introduced me to her family today."  
"It's good that you're there. It's best she not be alone."

"Yeah, well anyway please go back to sleep. I'll talk to you later."

Rei said nothing, disconnecting the call. Despite the abrupt end, Shinji felt very relieved after speaking to her. _At least she seems to be enjoying herself_, he thought.

Shinji found no trouble again falling asleep in the very comfortable poster bed, but has it happened every night, he was awakened around midnight when he heard a "thump" next to him. Small arms wrapped themselves around his waist and he felt her pull herself against his back, squeezing tightly. Nearly every night since the battle at Tokyo-3, Asuka had sneaked inside his bedroom to stay with him, holding onto Shinji like an oversized teddy bear. He didn't mind at all, and held her hands in his as they both drifted asleep.

The next morning Asuka's step-mother informed her that one of Asuka's college friends was organizing a party in her honor, to welcome her back to Germany. The party was to be that evening at the friend's own mansion. Upon hearing the news Asuka protested to her step-mother that she "simply had nothing to wear," and insisted on taking Shinji back into the city to go shopping for them both.

At first Mrs. Langley offered a car and driver, but the pilots explained that Kikuchi could drive quite well and would prefer if he took them. This was done partly to be sure that anything they said or did out of the house would not be relayed by the driver back to Mrs. Langley. Asuka's stepmother reluctantly agreed, and loaned a white BMW 7-series sedan to the three of them. The group promptly took off, with Kikuchi quietly indulging himself at the wheel of the BMW driving the autobahn on the way into the city.

Upon reaching central Berlin they went to Kurfürstendamm, which was one of the most trendy shopping areas of the city. Asuka took Shinji to the giant KaDeWe department store to buy clothes, but also to talk privately.

In the trendy young women's section, Asuka quickly pushed through dress after dress, looking for something that would fit the event. Shinji was already holding onto two other outfits that she quickly grabbed while she went looking for the evening gown she wanted.

Not wanting to break Asuka's concentration but also trying to break the ice regarding her family, Shinji tried to think of a way to start things. He had known her long enough to know her frustrations and knew the shopping trip itself was mostly a ruse.

"So, what does your dad do for a living anyway?" Shinji asked her. She was silent for a bit, pretending to ignore his question until she found what she wanted.

"Ah!" she said, holding up the gown. "This should do!" Asuka showed him a red evening gown with bare shoulders, a long silk skirt that was split up to the higher thighs. "Here, let me go try this one!" Happy to have found something she liked, she raced back to the dressing rooms with the gown.

Shinji waited patiently in front until she came out wearing the dress. She walked over to him and turned around. "Zip me up, will you?" He gently complied, fastening her zipper so that her dress fit firmly. Asuka then spun around for him, showing the dress. "Wha'cha think?"

The boy's eyes went wide. "It looks really good!"

"It better, for the price," she said. Asuka quickly slipped back into the dressing room and changed back. Shinji figured he should just give up on getting the backstory today.

The redhead came out again and quickly went to another section of the store. As she went looking for another outfit she started talking. "Damn! They don't have it anymore!"

"Don't have what?"

"My dress! My favorite one!"

"You mean the yellow one?"

"Yes! I lost that one when the apartment got destroyed and now they don't have it anymore!" She pouted for a bit then looked and found something else. "Here, this looks nice." She showed a pink sundress to Shinji, who nodded in approval. "I'll go try this one on," she said and then ran back to the dressing room.

After a minute she came back and showed him the dress, which Shinji rather liked. It was pink and feminine, with spaghetti straps and a short, frilly hemline. She saw his smile when she wore it in front of him and decided that this was her new favorite.

_Can I trust him with the rest of the story? Considering how his family is messed up, he'd probably be the only one to get it anyway..._

"Come on," she told him. "Let's get you something and then I'll tell you the rest."

"I don't really need anything," Shinji said.

"Yes you do. These people don't give a crap what you wear, just as long as it's expensive." After changing out again she took him by the arm to the men's section and started working on him from there.

After their shopping spree, which Asuka conveniently paid for with her family's credit card, the two of them had lunch inside a small cafe next to the department store. As they sat on the outside porch Shinji worked on his wienerschnitzel as Asuka sparingly ate her petite steak. A few minutes into the meal Asuka finally started to answer Shinji's questions about her family.

"My father's family is in the arms trade," she began. "They've been doing that for over a hundred years. They were suppliers to all different types of countries, depending on who was fighting who. He works at NERV Third Branch here in Berlin, one of the senior management types in charge of buying all of the stuff they needed to build the EVAs."  
"Wow," Shinji said. "They must pay a lot."

"Actually he gets bribed a lot. Other companies wanted the NERV business so they pay him under the table to get inside deals. A lot of crap like that."

"Oh."

"His wife," Shinji noted that she didn't use the term 'mother', "is actually a doctor. She also worked at NERV in Berlin, at least until they got married."

Shinji shifted the subject slightly. "When did you meet Misato?"

"I was eleven. I had started university by then. She was my controller for my pilot training at NERV at the other part of Third Branch at Hamburg. I had been living on my own there already for a few years before she arrived."

At this point Shinji was quite curious. "Was she like she is now?"

"Oh yeah. When I first met her I _so_ hated her. Bossy and then so freaking lazy. After a while though I guess we found a way to get along. We had fun, too. Then she got posted back to Japan and then I got a new controller."

"Who was that?" Shinji asked. Asuka's eyes went up in surprise. "Kaji-san, of course!" She sighed deeply. "Everything was _wonderful_ after he showed up!"

_Sea of Japan_

That evening as it is custom in many navies, the ship's captain had his dinner on a private table not far from the bridge of the _Liberator_. Seated at the table were his senior officers as well as important guests. Wearing white or khaki uniforms the group of officers at the table relaxed a bit, eating away and trading stories of adventures past and present, and waiting for their guests to arrive.

Patrick entered the private dining room wearing a t-shirt with a logo of the _Liberator_ and blue and green camouflage pants. He quickly took his place at one of the two empty chairs at the table as one of the other officers poured him water.

He had dined with Admiral Gato and the others for three nights now and while at first intimidated by the officers Patrick had become more at ease over time, as they had a great many questions about Evangelions and other matters that he and his fellow pilot could answer. In return the officers gave both of the children tremendous hospitality and made them feel quite welcome.

Just as he was about to start on his dinner the other guest quietly entered. Wearing a simple white sundress with matching sandals, Rei Ayanami walked to the table and silently sat down next to Patrick.

"Hi," Patrick said to her, smiling. Rei didn't say anything but just nodded a little and turned her attention to the rest of the group as they ate and talked.

Admiral Gato addressed the boy. "Mr. Forrestal," he said, "how did you like that little game from yesterday?"

"I was pretty nervous for a while," Patrick said. "We're used to fighting big targets, not knocking down lots of little ones. It would have been helpful to know how many missiles they were going to shoot!"

"If you knew that, it blows the test," the admiral replied. "You used up way too much ammo on the first few salvos."

"Next time I think I can just use the AT field and cover the whole fleet that way. It seems much better."

A steward came in and served the main course , which was lobster. Everyone at the table received a generous portion except for Rei, who by her request was served soup instead.

"Is this the first time you've seen the EVAs in action, admiral?" Patrick asked as he worked on cracking open his dinner.

"No. When we were still with the UN fleet our battlegroup escorted Unit 02 to Japan. We were nearly there when we got attacked by that Angel."

Rei and Patrick looked at each other in realization, and then back at the admiral. "Sixth Angel," Patrick said.

"That's right. That bastard took out half of my ships before those two kids stopped it."

"I saw video of that battle," Patrick said. "It was quite nasty!"

"Yeah. Unfortunately we were not informed ahead of time about the nature of the enemy, otherwise I would have asked that the EVA deploy as we got closer to Tokyo-3. I had some choice words for the UN high command after that and then they promptly threatened me if I didn't shut up. Admiral Vinson and I were once classmates at the academy, and when I told him what happened he gave me the rest of the story I wasn't getting from the UN about EVA and the Angels."

Admiral Gato changed the topic, and spoke to Patrick's companion. "So young lady, are you enjoying your stay on board?"

Rei looked up at him with a stoic expression. "Yes. It's very relaxing."

"You don't seem to do much other than read up in the conning tower," the admiral said. "If you like we can take you up on some of our aircraft here and go for a ride."

"No thank you," Rei said. "I'm quite content."

_Strange girl._ Gato winced at Patrick but he just smiled back at him. "Well, tomorrow is just a naval exercise so there's no need for the EVA, and we head back to Japan in two days. Would both of you like to go on an excursion?"

"Where to?" Patrick asked.

"There's a smaller island in the Keramas that is close by here, called Tokashiki. It's quite nice: the beach is very beautiful with crystal-clear water. There's also a small village on the other side of the island. We can drop you off in the morning and then pick you up that night. I think you'll like it." Gato winked at Patrick at the last part, and the boy grasped his meaning. _A romantic getaway._

Patrick looked at Rei. "That sounds nice. Are you interested?" Rei didn't say anything but looked back and nodded.

"Count us in!" said Patrick.

"We'll arrange it, then," the Admiral confirmed. "We'll have a chopper and escort take you there at 0800 hours."

After dinner ended Patrick and Rei both stood up to go to their staterooms. Patrick looked at Rei. "Can I come over again tonight?"

"Of course. I'll be ready at Eight o'clock."

"Thanks," he replied. They both then went to their separate rooms.

Sixty minutes later Patrick stood in front of Rei's cabin holding a tray with a pot of hot tea and two cups. Carefully balancing the tray with one hand he knocked on her door with the other. She opened the door a moment later, her hair and skin were still wet from the shower and she wore a white bathrobe provided by the ship.

"May I come in?" he asked. Rei nodded and he then walked into the cabin.

Patrick carefully set the tray down on the small desk that was in her stateroom. While their cabins were small they had one notable luxury in that there were cramped but private shower units in each of them. Besides the shower there was a small bed that doubled as a couch, as well as a desk that folded up. Patrick sat in the solitary chair in the room as Rei gently sat down on the bed. He couldn't help but notice that as she sat down her bathrobe split open up to her thigh, giving him a considerably good view of her legs.

The tea service was the result of Patrick's brainstorming on ways to converse with Rei more often. While it was true that after Third Impact Rei was somewhat more open and expressive with him and everyone else, many times she was still very inward, and Patrick found that starting a conversation with her was still not at all easy.

Observing Rei within the previous two weeks Patrick noticed that she had an affinity for hot tea. She often had it in her temporary room in the NERV hospital, and also noticed that in the few times she sat down with Shinji they nearly always drank hot tea together. Not knowing if it was just a Japanese thing, on the first night on board _Liberator_ Patrick came over to her cabin uninvited and brought her hot green tea to drink. Then as she sat silently and drank Patrick proceeded to try to discuss every topic he could think of with her.

It had not been very smooth the first night, but on the second he directed the conversation to his life in the California mountains and that had piqued her interest. She asked him several questions about the wildlife he encountered while living in a cabin, of which he was quite happy to tell her of his many encounters with creatures large and small including one frightening incident from his early youth with a mountain lion. That night he felt that they had both enjoyed the time together and tonight Patrick figured the tea service was clearly worth another try.

"So," he asked her as he poured the tea into the two cups. "How did it go today?"

"Three books today," she said. "Dolphins, sea life in coral-based tide pools, and naval engineering."

"Naval engineering?!"

"I was curious about the construction of this ship. The ship's library has several books about this ship and about engineering as well." She took a sip from the teacup after Patrick poured it, licking her lips slightly afterward. "This is more sweet."

"It's Polynesian fruit tea," Patrick answered. "One of the stewards is from Taiwan and suggested it."

"It's very different from green tea."

"But do you like it?"

She thought for a moment as she licked her lips to further analyze the taste. "Yes."

Patrick changed the subject. "Just out of curiosity, have you ever read Shakespeare?" he asked Rei.  
"All of the works," she replied. "Plays and sonnets."

"What do you think of him?"

Rei was thoughtful. "Understanding them is difficult. For some of them I didn't see the point. The characters don't behave in ways that make sense."

"You mean in that they're screwed up like everyone else."

"I can grasp why they act in irrational ways," Rei replied, "but I'm not sure why others put such value on the stories."

"What did you think of _Romeo and Juliet_?"

She was matter-of-fact: "They were stupid."  
"Stupid!?"

"What they did made no sense to me," she explained. "If they had such love for each other they would have been able to communicate better and read each other's intended meanings. Instead they have no idea what each other is doing, and then do highly irrational things based on assumptions that were incorrect."

"And then they each kill themselves at the end."

"Correct."  
Patrick laughed at her unique observation as Rei watched him. "It's called _Irony_. Oh well, your take on it is clearly honest."

"Do you like the plays yourself?" she asked him.  
"It's sort of strange but I like the histories better than the dramas. Stuff like _Hamlet_ just bores me but the histories like _Henry V_ or _Julius Caesar_ are more interesting. Was there a Shakespeare play you _did_ like?"

"_The Tempest_," Rei said.

"Ah! His last work. Way out fantasy compared to his other stuff." _That's an interesting choice_, he thought to himself. _She's Miranda compared to the Commander's Prospero_, _only Ikari was nowhere near as nice. Would that make me Ferdinand, then? _"Is there someone you prefer that's better?"

"I don't really have a preference," she said. "I read as long as it interests me."

The boy put his hand on his chin and smiled at her. "Truthfully. Besides the three books you read completely today how many others did you put down after reading, say, one page?"

"Twenty-three."

"Is that how it usually goes?"

"Yes."

They sat and drank the tea for a bit longer, as Patrick worked up what he wanted to ask next. To him Rei seemed more relaxed this time, and he felt possibly she might respond to questions that were more personal.

"My father told me things...things about EVA and the program. I'm not sure what to believe of what he said, but he also talked about you."

Rei's eyebrows went up. "What did he say?"  
Patrick swallowed a little bit and gave her a serious look. "He told me what the...relationship was, between you and Shinji's mother."

Upon hearing that Rei didn't flinch, but she looked pensive for a little while. Patrick knew that he had struck something deep.

"Did you know?" he asked her.

"Not at first," she replied. "I was never told of this by the Commander."

"Then how did you find out?"

"The first time I saw Ikari-kun, I knew there was a connection of sorts but I did not know why. When he touched me it was as if I was touched by something familiar, as if I already knew him."

"When did you know?"  
"Some time later Dr. Akagi performed a cross-sync test. I was entered into Unit 01's entry plug and attempted to synch with her. I was immediately successful in doing so."

Patrick was keenly interested. "And then what happened?"  
"For the first time, "she explained carefully, "I felt the void that was inside of me be filled. I could touch her, the one inside the Evangelion. Then at that point she gave me knowing, of who and what I was."

"How did you feel?"

"I couldn't describe the feeling, except that when you solve a puzzle that is very difficult. At that point I reached a conclusion, and I was happy and sad for it."

"Happy and sad?"  
"I was Happy that I had an answer to my being, but also sad as the reason for my being was to be a placeholder for someone else. I felt I was less of myself after that day."

"Did that happen before or after I met you the first time?"

"Before."

"I don't see how someone like you could ever feel less of yourself," Patrick said. "You're definitely one of a kind."

"But at that time I wasn't," Rei replied. "The body that I had then was just one of many, and all of them were exactly the same."

"But that's not true anymore, is it?"  
"No, and..." she paused for a moment as she considered how she felt now "it is quite an unusual experience. Before I was disposable, able to be replaced by another. Now am I so invaluable that others will go to great lengths to ensure that will live on and that no harm will come to me."

"You were always invaluable," Patrick told her.

"Do I seem different to you than before?" she asked him.

He thought about her question. "Yeah, there's some differences. You're a little bit more relaxed now. You smile more, talk a little more. Back then you seemed like you were wrapped in this cone of silence. But despite all that, you're still the you I met before. Do you feel different?"

"I do," Rei replied as she looked out the window of the stateroom. "I can...feel things more now, sense the people around me. I have knowing." She turned to him. "It's the same with you."

"What?"  
"You're different from before, when you first came to Tokyo-3."

"I don't really feel different..."  
"It's true. Before you always seemed very nervous."

"It was my first time in Japan! I was so worried I wouldn't be able to talk to anyone!"

"That wasn't it," she said. "You were very anxious then. You are not like that now."

Patrick scratched his head a little. "I guess I was really trying hard to make a good impression on everyone. Back then I didn't really know what was important and what wasn't."

"Do you know now?" she asked him.

"Yeah," he said, smiling a little. "I think I got that down pretty good now." They were both silent again for a while and drank their tea.

For the next few minutes the two of them spoke about less important subjects until Patrick excused himself to go. He slowly got up and picked up the tea pot and glasses and then moved to go out the door. Turning around he faced Rei as she stood in the doorway, still wearing her white robe.

"Have a good sleep. Tomorrow will be another adventure."

"I will. Thank you."  
"Don't mention it," he replied. "Good night."

"Good bye," she replied and gently shut the door.

After returning the tea set Patrick returned to his own stateroom at the opposite end of the hallway. He plopped himself on this bed, looking up at the ceiling and thinking about the last hour.

_Catching Rei is like catching that missile wave,_ he thought. _I don't know how many missiles I'll have to knock down, but to get her I have to get every one. Patiently, methodically, one by one by one..._

Once the boy left Rei moved the chair over by the small window and watched the world go by outside the ship, seeing the reflection of the crescent moon on the ripples of the ocean water below her. She felt a new presence in the room and quickly glanced behind her, then went back to watching the ocean go by.

"He likes you, you know," the voice said.

"I'm aware of it," she replied.

"Too bad you won't be able to give him what he wants."

"If what he wants is for me to fill a need," she said in turn "then he'll be disappointed. But if what he wants is to make a connection, then all things are possible."

"Good luck, then" the boy said with a humph. Rei just kept looking out the window, wondering what the possibilities really were.

_"Oh, brave new world, that has such people in it..."_


	4. Chapter 3: Holiday

_Berlin_

That evening Kikuchi, again in the Langley's white BMW, took the couple to the mansion of Asuka's schoolmate. Shinji was wearing the brand-name jacket and pants Asuka bought for him, while she wore the red gown that she picked out for herself. Her hair was done up this time, held in the back with a bright red bow.

As they got out of the car Shinji looked at Asuka and studied how different she looked dressed up and with makeup. To him she looked much older and didn't at all seem like the girl he knew. Asuka noticed his stare as they walked up the mansion steps.

"What are you looking at?"

"Aren't you a little young to be wearing stockings like those?" he said. She was wearing decorative black fishnets along with four-inch heels, which gave her a very mature look.

Miffed at his comment, Asuka said nothing but immediately spiked his foot with the heel of her pump. Shinji bit his lip trying to keep from screaming out in pain. Ignoring him, Asuka finished walking up the mansion steps and rang the doorbell. Answering the door was a blond-haired girl also wearing an evening gown who looked about twenty years of age.

"Asuka!"

"Hilde!" the two went into an embrace.

"Why didn't you tell us you were back?" Hilde asked Asuka. "We got the news from the grapevine you had come home."

"Oh, it was sort of a last-minute thing..."

"And look what you brought with you!" her classmate said as she saw Shinji hobble up the steps. Asuka quickly grabbed him and wrapped her arm around him as they walked inside.

Inside the house both of them were mobbed by a throng of young adults, embracing and chatting with Asuka as well as doting on Shinji. Several of the young women all surrounded him making all sorts of compliments, and trying to speak to him in German, English, or very bad Japanese. Shinji was quite embarrassed at all of the attention and tried to find Asuka in the crowd. She was busy going from acquaintance to acquaintance and slowly made her way to a large living room not far from the foyer.

Unlike the Langley house this mansion was built and decorated in an ultra-modern style, with glass window and solid white and black floors and wall paneling, the sort of thing many envision when they hear the words "modern German design." Shinji looked behind him and saw Kikuchi enter through the door, and he was equally mugged by the young women fawning over the handsome, tall Japanese man and asking him questions.

He searched for Asuka and found her in the living room some distance away. There she was standing in front of another boy wearing a dark suit, tall and with neat blonde hair. Unlike the others he looked more their own age, about fourteen. She smiled at the boy and flirted with him, giving him charming looks while she playfully pulled at the lapels on the boy's jacket. Shinji could see that they had an animated discussion but couldn't hear what was said above the din of the crowd around him. After a minute, Asuka excused herself and jogged back over to where Shinji was standing.

"Come here," she said, grabbing his hand. "There's someone I want you to meet." Asuka dragged Shinji by the arm to meet the boy in the living room. Once they reached him, she did the introductions.

"Gunther, this is Shinji Ikari."

"Greetings, Shinji Ikari. Welcome to Germany" The boy spoke to him in perfect Japanese. He offered him his hand and when Shinji took it, he gripped it tightly.

"Nice to meet you," Shinji replied, somewhat sheepishly. Asuka narrowed her glance at him for a bit but then went right back to charm-mode.

"Is he a pilot?" Gunther asked Asuka in German.

"He's the Third Child," she replied. "I wouldn't make him angry if I were you."

Gunther's eyebrows were raised in surprise. "Well," he looked at Shinji with a smirk, "your reputation precedes you." Shinji face blushed as his descent into embarrassment grew deeper. The boy continued his discussion with Asuka in German. "Now that the Alliance has taken over NERV, are you still piloting?"

"Yes," she said. "I didn't fight all those Angels just to have some assholes bring on Third Impact anyway. They've got big payback coming."

"Not everyone sees the Alliance as any improvement over the UN" the boy mused, "but knowing you I 'm confident you'll be up for a fight any time the chance comes." He then turned to Shinji and spoke to him. "You should know, you've succeeded where many have failed. This little _kafer_ has proven so difficult to catch but there she is now in your hands. Best take care of her, lest she fly away again."

Shinji's face was now deep red. "I-I-I'll do my best!" he stammered.

"I'm sure you will. Now I'll leave you both alone. Please take care, Asuka-chan. So nice to meet you, Shinji Ikari." The boy quietly embraced Asuka, shook Shinji's hand again, and then left them as he went to go speak to someone else. After the perfect boy left Shinji let out a sigh of relief. Asuka gave him an annoyed look again.

"What?" he said.

She sighed. "Never mind." She then took him by the arm again to go mingle in the crowd.

After about an hour Shinji was quite exhausted with the meeting and greeting and conversing in languages that either he or the other party didn't understand. Breaking fee of the living room he walked to the house's balcony, which overlooked the city lights and bustling streets of Central Berlin. He breathed in deeply and worked to get himself somewhere back to normal, standing on the railing and watching the city life as it moved vibrantly. He was there for perhaps ten minutes when Asuka found him.

"There you are!" she said. "I've been looking all over for you. I was afraid you got locked in the bathroom or something."

He turned to face her. "No, I...I just wanted a breather."

Asuka walked up right next to him. "Don't tell me you're still bothered with Gunther."

"Who is he, anyway?" Shinji asked. "He knew about EVA!"

"Gunther was my sparring partner at Third Branch. I'd train against him for martial arts and such. Don't worry, he knows about the whole thing."

"Oh," Shinji replied, feeling a little easier. "What's a _kafer_?"

"_Kafer_ is a German word that has a double meaning: either pretty girl, or cockroach. Take your pick." Shinji smiled a little but didn't laugh. Asuka's face was still serious and she got to the heart of the matter. "Why, did you think he was like a boyfriend or something?"

"Well, I didn't know really and..."  
"If you call forcing someone to buy you cake after you beat them in a match, I suppose that we dated. But it wasn't serious or anything!" The boy again sighed a relief, but Asuka playfully nudged him in the ribs. "Hey, stand up for yourself a little more out there! I picked _you_, not him!"

"Sorry," Shinii said.

"No need to apologize. You're just being stupid as usual."

"Um, I did have a question?"

"Yeah?"  
"Are all of your friends older? Gunther's the only one that's your age."

"I was in university the last three years," she said. "Of course they're a bit older."

"Do they know about EVA, too?"

"No. To them I was just this incredibly cute, incredibly brilliant little girl!" she said with a mock smile Shinji laughed at that.

Asuka snuggled up a little closer to him at the railing. "Alright, I know you don't deal well with situations like this," she said apologetically. "Tomorrow I'll make it up to you. I'll take you someplace pretty, just the two of us. OK?" She smiled at him and he smiled back, and together they both looked over the balcony and watched the city lights below them. Thinking to himself however, Shinji couldn't shake one thought: that somehow Gunther reminded him so very much of Kaworu Nagisa.

_Tokashiki Island_

At 8:00 o'clock the two children boarded a helicopter and flew about twenty minutes from the _Liberator_ to a small tropical island not far from the fleet. The island looked no bigger than a couple of miles across, with one side lined with sandy beaches and the other populated with palm trees and a little village that could be seen from the air. An old shinto shrine was on top of the highest hill.

The helicopter landed on the beach and was approached by a squad of Alliance marines who had landed previously to secure the area. The two children hopped out of the side door, with Patrick carrying a small cooler and backpack. After they were clear one of the marines banged on the pilot's door and gave a thumbs-up sign, and the helicopter quickly took off.

The squad leader, a young sergeant who looked Asian but spoke perfect English, told the two pilots that they had already swept the beach clear and that the two could go where they liked on the shoreline. If they wanted to, they could also visit the village on the other side. Today there was some sort of local festival, so they could go to the village in the afternoon after having fun at the beach. The marines would escort them in town from a distance and then take them back to the ship at sundown. After being sure the teenagers understood everything the squad leader presented Patrick with a satellite radio for his use, and then the squad spread out to the rest of the treeline that lined the shore. Within a couple of minutes the dozen soldiers who were protecting them were plainly out of sight.

Patrick laid a couple of towels on the sandy beach and unfurled a large umbrella, which he then stabbed into the thick sand. Rei took a look around her, gazing at the ocean waves crashing on the shoreline. She wore her white hat along with a white mesh cover up, while Patrick wore camouflage swim trunks and a red and white t-shirt with the ship's logo.

As Patrick finished setting up their "camp" Rei removed her hat and dropped it on the towel. Then with both hands removed her cover-up, revealing a white one-piece bathing suit that Patrick thought fit her petite figure just fine.

Smiling to himself as he looked at her, Patrick thought _I get to watch her wear that... all day._

Rei turned around as Patrick removed his own t-shirt and grabbed a plastic bottle from the backpack. "What do we do now," she asked him.

"I guess we go exploring. Did you put on sunscreen?"

"I applied some before we left the ship."

"Do you want to put on a little more?" He showed her the bottle. Rei quickly snatched it from his hands and started to apply a light coat all over herself as Patrick watched. As she finished applying Patrick asked her "What about your back?"

"My back?" she said, and then realized what he meant. "Oh."

"If you don't mind," he said, and she gave him back the bottle and turned her back towards him. Patrick applied a little sunscreen to his hands and very gently spread it all over the skin of her back. Trying not to indulge himself too much, he noticed how incredibly soft her skin actually was. "Done. My turn." Patrick then applied lotion to himself and at the last stage handed the bottle Rei and turned around. She methodically applied a thin, even coat to his entire backside, her hands gently running down his back. Saying nothing, she dropped the bottle on the towel when she finished and the both of them started to walk towards the beach.

The admiral had billed the beach as a "beautiful slice of earth" and it did not disappoint. Seemingly untouched by man, the sandy beach was pristine and the water was amazingly clear, so clear that as they stood in the ocean they could both see three feet down onto the sandy bottom.

The two of them walked around the beach for a while, wading into the cold ocean water and taking in the sights and sounds. About a hundred yards ahead of them was a rocky outcropping and Patrick suggested to Rei that they both go there next. She agreed and they walked to the rocky portion and saw a myriad of tide pools. Looking into the little pools in the outcropping they could see a wide selection of sealife living in and out of the rocks. Muscles, seastars, sea anemones, sea cucumbers, hermit crabs, and a variety of other creatures were there and both of them spent the rest of the morning exploring the little ecosystem.

Patrick watched Rei as she gently touched an anemone's tentacles, then backed her hand off slightly as one stung her. "Are you OK?" he asked. She nodded and then continued to study the creatures from a safer distance.

"They look alien," Patrick commented.

"They're quite interesting," Rei said. "They clone for reproduction."

"Oh really?"

She turned her attention to a starfish that was close by. Rei was reluctant to touch it at first but Patrick picked it up himself and held it while she gently caressed the arms, feeling the cyllia underneath. He watched her smile a little as she felt the movement of the seastar. Without saying anything she gently took the seastar in her own hands and then felt the arms slowly wrap around her own fingers.

"He likes you," Patrick commended.

"I like him too," she said. "But I should probably let him go." Rei dipped her hand into a tide pool and slid off the seastar from her hand.

They spent another hour in and out of the tide pools exploring and interactive with all of the sea life. Patrick noticed that Rei's serious face had disappeared, being replaced with one that was childlike in amazement. They would both go from tide pool to tide pool, pointing out things to each other and occasionally picking up something to show the other. In one pool Rei spotted several hermit crabs and they had fun poking them and gently moving them around to see how they walked and hid inside their shells.

The boy could see how Rei's eyes grew wider at each wonder she saw. Smiling and hopping around the rocks, she was even a bit playful as they interacted with all of the small creatures. In that morning Patrick thought that he had never seen her as relaxed and happy as she was now.

After a while Patrick suggested that they go back to the "camp" for lunch. They walked back slowly, enjoying the scenery and feeling of warm sand underneath their feet. Returning to where they laid out the towels and umbrella, they both sat down as Patrick unpacked their lunch from the basket they had brought with them.

The two of them enjoyed tea sandwiches made for them by the ship's stewards, washing them down with iced lemon tea from a thermos. Once they finished eating the two pilots sat for a while and watched the ocean as the waves gently crashed on the beach every few seconds. Rei was silent, leaning against her knees and just watching the waves. Patrick didn't speak to her but just sat on the towels, keeping one eye on the ocean and one on her.

She turned to face him. "Forrestal-kun?"

"Yeah?"

"Did you ever go to see the ocean before today?"

"Just once," he said. "I was very small. I went to go visit the beach with my mother." She didn't reply, but just nodded and turned her attention back to the waves. Rei's question, however, had forced Patrick's attention on something that he had nearly forgotten. Not looking at her, he said to Rei "it was the last time I ever saw her."

"Then the beach has significance for you."

"I guess it does. It was so long ago that I barely remember anything, just walking on the sand and picking up shells. I could hear her voice, feel her hold my hand. But her face," he paused for a moment, blinking his eyes and trying to recall the moment, "I can't remember what it looked like."

"Do you miss her?" Rei asked him.

"Every damn day," Patrick replied. "I only saw her every so often. She would come to visit me in the mountains, and never together with my father. Usually she just visited in my uncle's place but that time she put me in the car and took me to the ocean. I guess," Patrick said, more softly now, "she knew what was going to happen."

Rei sat and listened as Patrick kept going, with a mournful tone in his voice. "Sometimes I wish I was like you."

"Why do you say that?"

"I wish I didn't have parents at all."

"They gave you life."

"Such as it is," he said as he dug in the sand. "What's the point of putting a child in the world if you're not willing to take care of them yourselves." As Patrick kept talking he dug in the sand and started to work on a mound next to his towel. "When I was in the mountains, all I wanted, all I could think of, was to just be with them again. Then one day my uncle told me my mom died and then, well, I didn't know what to do after that. I hoped that my dad would take me back after that but that never happened, just a lot of empty promises." He patted the sand, working on the beginnings of a sand castle. "At least if I didn't have parents I wouldn't have the false hope of ever being with them again. Better to just cut it all off at once."

Patrick silently patted down his mounds of sand, smoothing the walls and building up what was shaping up to be a very sloppy castle. "I'm sorry," he told her. "You probably didn't want to hear that."

He worked for a bit longer, not wanting to say anything further to Rei as the topic just dragged up too many bad feelings and he wanted to have fun with the girl, not whine to her. As he started to work on the largest of his mounds, Patrick noticed another set of hands was now helping him to smooth out the sand, as Rei knelt down and gently smoothed the castle wall with her hands. For the next few moments they worked together, as he dug up sand and created mounds and she would gently shape and slope it, making small pyramids out of each mound he created. Patrick noticed that as Rei worked silently her creations were very neat, with smooth walls and perfect angles at the base of the pyramids.

In about a half an hour they finished. What had started out as a messy sandcastle was transformed into a large pyramid and set of smaller ones. Not wanting to critique her work, Patrick had wondered why Rei made pyramids instead of castles with the sand, but on seeing the finished product he realized the answer: she had recreated Central Dogma in sand. He smiled a little at her innovation.

"That's NERV," he pointed out.

"You said castle," she replied. "I don't know castles, but I know this. The function is the same, is it not?"

"Very true," Patrick said.

Rei looked at him directly. "You should appreciate where you come from, and who you come from. Life is always a gift, regardless of your circumstances."

"It's hard to do sometimes," Patrick replied.

"Many people went to a great deal of difficulty to ensure that you would exist, and that you would pilot EVA. Many more owe their very survival to the fulfillment of your existence. Can you not appreciate that?"

"I suppose. It's just that..."

She cut him off. "You still need to learn to listen, and not to hear." She got up off the sand and slowly walked towards the beach.

Patrick thought to follow her but figured it was time to leave her alone, knowing that he may have just blown a challenge she had made to him without knowing what it was at first.

_I suppose it was the wrong thing, suggesting to her it would be better not to have parents. Somewhere deep inside she misses that part of herself, the life and family experience that all of the rest of us have, however good or bad it is._

_Rei never grew up, they just popped her out of some test tube and there she was. No parents, no family, no childhood. No connection to anything. Any way you slice it, that's got to suck. _

The boy watched Rei as she stood without moving at the water's edge with her arms to her sides and just looked out over the ocean.

_Rei, if that's what you're looking for, I'll do what I can to fill the gaps, give you the life you missed out on. Maybe if I can do that for you, then you'll...you'll let me be what I want to be for you. Would you?_


	5. Chapter 4: Welcome to My World

_Germany_

Shinji and Asuka woke up early the next morning and with Kikuchi again at the wheel drove to the main Berlin rail station. There the three of them hopped on a high-speed train that headed west. Shinji and Asuka sat on one row of seats, happily chatting about anything as they watched the scenery go by while Kikuchi stayed one row back and kept an eye out.

After making one train change they ended up in Koblenz, an old city built on the eastern side of the Rhine River. Koblenz was the complete opposite of Berlin, with cobblestone roads and old shops that decorated the narrow streets. A giant cathedral with triangular spires pointed up to the sky from the city square. Horse-drawn carriages and cars shared the roads as shoppers and others leisurely walked down little alleys.

Once they arrived they spent some time in the area immediately outside of the train station, peeking into shops and bakeries and seeing the sights. Shinji wore a wool sweater with black, white, and orange patterns that Asuka bought him in Berlin, while she wore the pink dress she picked out earlier along with red mary janes and a red sweater. Her red A10s were back on today, tying her hair in long tails as she usually did. All the while Asuka pushed Shinji to use what little German he knew to speak with shop-keepers and others that they ran into and while he wasn't confident at first, within an hour he was getting the hang of simple communication such as asking for directions and how much everything cost.

By noon they reached the river itself. They stood at the edge of the Rhine at a small riverside dock and watched ships large and small go by. The weather got warmer so they took off their sweaters and then Asuka spotted a place where they could rent a small rowboat. Both of the kids got in the boat and pushed off south, while Kikuchi followed in a second boat at some distance, with instructions to them to row slowly and close to the shoreline.

Naturally Asuka let Shinji do all the work, and after some early struggles he got the rowboat moving smoothly down the river. The view from the river itself was breathtaking as old castles and churches were dotted along the shorelines interspersed with lush trees and landscape. At mid-day the sunlight was gleaming off the river as a gentle breeze made quiet waves alongside the boat. Seagulls and ducks were heard as they dived in looking for food or floating idly inshore.

As they rowed down the river Asuka just sat on one bench of the rowboat, crossed her long legs and enjoyed the scenery. Despite his surroundings Shinji found his attention focused more and more on his passenger. To him she looked beautiful that day, more so than before. He watched her as the breeze gently swayed her hair, with the gleaming sunlight giving her locks a golden appearance. Her skin looked beautiful too, ivory colored and soft, and her face had an unusually peaceful look as she smiled slightly to herself while watching the larger boats pass them on the river. He found himself so entranced that at some point he forgot to keep rowing, something which didn't escape notice by her.

She turned her head to him and smiled, and he smiled back, and they sat there for a moment and just kept smiling at each other. Asuka then blinked her blue eyes and said to him "well, don't just sit there! Kiss me, you idiot!"

Shinji left the oars and quickly moved over to her side of the boat. She waited as he scooted up close, bringing his face next to hers, his heart beating in excitement. He went to close the distance until he hesitated only an inch from her lips.

"What is it?" she asked.

"You're not going plug my nose again, are you?"

Smiling broadly, she quickly held up her left hand and pulled him into a kiss. There on the little rowboat they both closed their eyes and let their lips touch each other gently and softly, as they felt the cool breeze and warm sunlight fall upon them on the river.

* * *

_Alice Springs, Australia_

The Alliance of Free Nations' main military base was located literally in the center of Australia. Devastated by Second Impact, what remained of the continent was abandoned, but in the intervening years between Second and Third Impact that force that was to become known as the Alliance had slowly constructed their stronghold in the remains of an old American intelligence outpost named Pine Gap, located in the outback town of Alice Springs.

Among the old and remodeled buildings of the outpost was a lonely gray structure that stood off to one side of the base. Nondescript, without even signs on the road identifying it, a small team of desert-camouflaged soldiers guarded the prison and the one captive who was held inside it.

Lieutenant Moria Wellington made her way through the building to the steel cell door at the end. She had been given the job of a "welfare check" on their prisoner, to ensure he was at least in a healthy state of mind and body. Gendo Ikari was important to the Alliance, not only as their highest profile prisoner, but also as the possible key to understanding much of the Evangelion program that they had captured.

Wellington herself, however, was not interested in understanding. When she first entered the prison the officer was asked like any other visitor to leave her firearm outside in case somehow a prisoner managed to grab the weapon and use it. But her being one of General Sheffield's most trusted officers allowed the guards to give her the benefit of the doubt, and they didn't search her further upon entering. Discretely she moved her right hand back and felt for the knife tucked inside her blouse and waistband, checking ensure it was in place and out of sight.

"Let me see him," she said to the guard in front of Ikari's cell door, and the guard quickly unfastened the series of locks and opened the door for her. Wellington walked inside and waited for the door to close. Spying though the front window, she waited until the guard turned his back to the door.

Gendo was sitting there at the table, dressed in orange prison fatigues, his beard grown out more since his capture two weeks earlier. A loose sleeve danged from the arm that he was missing. As she entered he didn't look up at her, but kept staring at the wall in front of him. When she was sure the guard had turned away Wellington quickly kicked his chair to the edge of the bed, leaving it standing on its back legs, while pulling her knife out of her waist and holding it at the prisoner's jugular.

"Say one word and it's your last," she told him.

"They'll kill you for doing this," Gendo replied.

"I don't care."

They remained that way for a silent minute, the only sounds in the room were the officer's heavy breathing. Her eyes were bulging with rage.

"How may I help you?" Gendo asked calmly.

"Why'd you do it?" she asked angrily.

"Do what?"  
"Second Impact. Why did you do it?"

"What makes you think I had anything to do with that?"

"I saw the records," Wellington told him. "You left Antarctica the day before it happened. No way that's a coincidence." Gendo was still silent. She struck him in the face with her other hand.

"Answer me!" she said in a whisper, but Ikari still said nothing.

Now more frustrated Moira grabbed him out of the chair and pushed him against the wall. Gendo was still expressionless, and eerily calm. "Are you afraid to die?" she said to him.

"You won't kill me," he told her. "I have what you need."

"Just try me." She traced the point of the knife along his face, and then again held it to his neck. Again, there was a long silence. Gendo studied her intently, looking at the black ornamental tattoos on her chin and face.

"You are _Māori_, are you not?"

"What's it to you?!"

"There can't be that many _Māori_ left in the world, especially ones who keep up with the old ways," he said.

"We're survivors," she responded. "We'll never stop."

"But you couldn't stop the waves, could you," he said. "Such a proud people, wiped out in a matter of seconds. How did you survive?"

"I wasn't in New Zealand. I was in London at boarding school," she said. "Imagine waking up and finding out your whole family, your whole _world_ was wiped out in one day."

"I know the feeling."

She hit him across the face with the hilt of the knife. "The hell you do!"

"If you want revenge, go ahead and kill me," Gendo answered. "But that's not what you really want, is it?"

"It's good enough! I'll drink your blood after I'm done!"

"But it still won't bring them back."

Her patience was ending, and she quickly glanced at the door to see if the guard had heard anything. Knowing her time was running out she pushed for a resolution. "Just tell me why," she told him, again holding the knife to his neck, and letting the blade sink in just a little.

Gendo looked at her with his black eyes. "What if you _could_ bring them back?" he said to her.

"There's no point in wishing for such things," she replied. "What's done is done."

"You asked me why I did it," he said to her calmly. "Do you really want the answer?" Moira backed away just a little. "Yeah, tell me you yellow prick!"

The former commander straightened himself out a little. "If you could bend reality and bring back what you loved, wouldn't you do it? No matter what the cost was?"

"We're humans, not gods."  
"Ah, but what if you could _become_ a god? Wouldn't that be worth something to you?"

"That's nonsense..."

"Is it? You were there, weren't you?" Gendo asked her. "At Tokyo-3, when heaven and earth came together? Didn't you see it happen?"

"That thing was an Angel..."

"I assure you that she was human, and then she became as God was. At that moment the whole world was at her hands, to make and bend reality to her own will, as only God can."

Wellington narrowed her glance at him. "You're talking about the blackest of magic!"

"I'm talking about the key to heaven," he countered. "You want to know _why_? _That's_ why!"

"You did all of this so you could become like God?"  
"I did it because I loved someone and they were then taken from me, but I found the means to get them back. Means that are available to even us mere mortals." Moria backed off even further as Gendo continued to explain. "If you could get back that which you loved, wouldn't you do it? No matter what it took?"

The officer found herself taken aback by his answer. "I would, yeah. But not at the price of my people!"

Gendo stood there and continued to speak to her with a wry smile on his face. "You know, lieutenant, sooner or later the Alliance will find the answers to all of this, with or without me. When they do that, just what do you think they'll do then?"

"Blow it all to hell! Like we swore we'd do!"

"And just give up the powers of the universe like that? Don't be naïve!" he said. "They'll become just like SEELE is, and then we'll having this conflict all over again, won't we."

Wellington was now starting to have real doubts creeping up in her mind. "I don't think they'd do that," she said softly.

"I wasn't trying to destroy the world," Gendo told her, looking straight into her eyes. "I just wanted back what I had lost. The means are still there, all it takes is the will."

Moria breathed hard as she considered all that she heard. Reaching a conclusion that she didn't expect to make, she shoved her knife back inside her waist band. She looked at him again and Gendo stared icily back at her.

"You fucker" she said under her breath, and then banged on the door to be let out.

* * *

_Tokashiki Island_

In the early afternoon the marine squad leader asked the two children if they would like to visit the village on the other side of the island. They both agreed and within a few moments they were sitting in an SUV and being taken to see the village.

The little island's village looked old, with its small hand-built wood buildings with angled roofs sitting underneath tall palm trees. Most of the buildings were on wood struts, a necessity due to the frequency of storms that hit the island, as often the water would come flooding in without warning. The little town appeared quite rustic from outside, there were no streetlights or street lamps and only a few automobiles present.

In the midst of the village was a boulevard that was the commercial heart of the community, and today it was bustling with activity. Many stores were open with booths in front, selling their wares to a noisy crowd. People of all ages lined the streets, many coming from other islands in the chain for the festival. At the far end was a large wooden shrine accompanied by men with blue and white cloth coats, which Patrick surmised would be part of the festivities later on.

The marines dropped off the two children in the middle of town and then as before started to take up positions that were out of sight but still watchful of their charges. Once they left, Patrick and Rei began to walk down the boulevard.

They spent the next thirty minutes going down the street and taking in the sights and sounds of the festival. It reminded Patrick somewhat of a country fair that took place on his mountain home in California, with lots of homely shops and stalls of hand-made food. For her part Rei just went from booth to booth to see what was at each one, quietly taking note of the contents of each.

Patrick noticed that many of the townspeople wore traditional clothing, with men and women both wearing cotton-made _yugatas_ in a variety of colors. As they walked down the boulevard he saw two teenage girls walk past them, each wearing blue _yugatas_ with colorful _obis_ (waistbelts) and ornate designs as they happily chatted with each other. He looked at Rei, who was wearing her white mesh coverup with just sandals on. Seeing the two girls again gave him some inspiration and he stopped and looked around the boulevard. Rei noticed that he had stopped walking and stopped in place with him.

Seeing what he wanted, he turned to her. "Rei, if I asked you to do something for me, would you do it?"

"What is it?"

A few moments later Patrick stood outside one of the shops and waited for Rei to emerge. He was now wearing a brown _yugata_ with a black and white belt, and shoes of local design in place of his beach flip-flops. He held his backpack that now contained his other clothes. He saw someone moving out of the store and tried to get a peek through the doors before they opened up. When they did finally open it brought a smile to his face.

Rei had come out of the store wearing a dark-blue _yugata _with intricate designs of cranes and swirl patterns, tied with a bright red and white obi. She now wore Japanese-style sandals instead of her beach flip-flops. As she emerged, the old shopkeeper fussed with the _obi_, making sure it was worn correctly. After the adjustment, Patrick thanked the woman and paid her and then the two of them walked down the boulevard again, with Rei's old clothes now also being carried in Patrick's backpack. Rei didn't seem either happy or unhappy with her new outfit, though Patrick admitted to himself that he liked it very much.

"Do you like this?" he asked her, motioning to her new outfit.

"The clothing is tight, so walking was difficult at first," she said. "But the _yugata_ itself is comfortable."

"Well, you look really pretty," Patrick commented. Rei said nothing but just kept walking.

They passed by a food stall and Patrick quickly purchased two ears of roasted corn mounted on chopsticks. Handing one to Rei he began to slowly eat his. She looked at hers curiously and then started to eat herself, nodding in approval after tasting it.

"Great. Now we're locals!" Patrick mused.

Rei looked at him in confusion, but Patrick just kept smiling at her. She thought about what he said for a moment, then a small smile appeared on her own face.

"How long did it take you to realize that was a joke," he asked her.

"Fifteen seconds."

"It's OK if you want to laugh," he said with a straight face. "I promise not to tell anyone."

"Why would you not..." she asked but again Patrick just kept smiling and finally burst out laughing. This time she let out a breath and her smiled broadened. Her face relaxed again. _That's more like it_, he thought.

"Do you find my reactions funny?" Rei asked him.

"Quite. You're very cute, you know."

"'Cute' is like humor: it is a difficult concept to define," she replied.

"Let's just say you define it pretty well."

Patrick was about to suggest they go across the street and look at a booth selling old books when from behind them a large crowd of people came rushing their way. Within a second Patrick suddenly found himself surrounded by dozens of villagers, all wearing cotton blue and white _happi _coats and headbands, and carrying the large wooden shrine that they had spotted when the first came into town.

The boy struggled to find his way through the noisy crowd as loud drum beats pounded the air. He had lost sight of Rei and was trying to feel his way through the many bodies. To him it seemed like he was drowning in an ocean of humanity, as the others around him loudly chanted praises to the goddess of whose shrine they were carrying on their shoulders, oblivious to his struggle.

"Rei!" he cried out, unable to see her among the crowd and fearful he was that she was somehow trampled by the procession. Trying to work his way to what he thought was the edge of the crowd, Patrick could feel bodies press against him as they pushed him forward. Stumbling on his feet, he felt that he might fall himself until something grabbed his hand and quickly pulled him out.

He found himself standing back on the boulevard again, the processing moving past them and carrying their precious cargo to the other end of town. He looked at his hand and found it was holding another small, delicate one. It was Rei that had pulled him out.

"Are you alright?" she asked.  
Patrick breathed a big sigh of relief. "Yes, thank you."

At that moment two marines, dressed in civilian clothes, immediately rushed next to the two pilots. One of them was the squad leader sergeant. Assuring the soldiers that everything was fine the soldiers left them alone again, only this time maintaining a much closer distance than before.

The two of them just watched the procession noisily go down the street. Patrick then turned to Rei.

"Would you like to go somewhere a bit more quiet?" She nodded and he pointed to the hill that was close by the village, the one with a large red Shinto _torii_ (or gate) on top. They both started to make their way out of the village and towards the hill, which was not very far away. As they began to walk, Rei released her hand from Patrick and held her handbag with both hands, but still stayed close to him.

The shrine was maybe a kilometer away from the center of the village, and access was from a long flight of cement steps. The two pilots slowly made their way up the grey-colored steps and within a few minutes they were on top, a little winded from the climb but otherwise feeling fine.

Passing through the red-painted torii they wandered through the shrine grounds a bit. It was old, with several small and medium-sized stone buildings capped with ornate angled roofs. The cobble-stone floor was strewn with fallen palm leaves all around, and there was no one else in sight.

Rei saw a bench off to one side of the larger stone pathway and gently sat down, Patrick sitting down next to her. Without saying anything she placed her hands in her lap and looked at their surroundings, and then, at least to Patrick, she seemed to lose herself as she stared straight ahead at nothing in particular.

For a few moments Patrick just watched her as she sat there. Eventually she noticed his gaze and turned to him.

"What are you doing?" he asked her.

"This place has its own sound," Rei replied. "I wanted to listen to it."

He remembered when she stood at the water's edge and just watched the ocean earlier that day. "It's like at the beach, isn't it?"

"Correct. The ocean has its own sound. So does the village, and Tokyo-3, and everywhere else."

Patrick sat and listened, but didn't hear anything except the faint echo of the breeze against wind chimes in the shrine. "I don't hear much."

"It's there, but you must become a part of it to listen to it."

"Can you teach me how?" he asked.

She thought about the question at first. Ordinarily she would consider such a request useless: everyone had their own way to listen, so how could she instruct him to listen the way she did? But then she considered perhaps this bridge could be crossed after all.

"Sit still," she instructed. "Let everything go from your hands." Patrick dropped the bag to the ground.

"Breathe," she then said. Patrick started taking deeper breaths.

"Shouldn't I close my eyes or something?"  
"It is not necessary. Do nothing but breathe." He continued to do as she said and spent what he thought were several minutes deeply inhaling. She watched him as he started to relax.

"Now what?"

"You are not ready yet. Your heart must be quiet and free of distractions."

"When will I know it's ready?"  
"When you do not have to ask."

Patrick thought he understood what she meant and then let everything go in his mind, closing his eyes loosely and trying to just forget everything that was rushing through his head at once. He forced his brain to stop wondering how long it all took and just sat there. It took a while, as thoughts about matters large and small attempted to stream though his mind. Instead he just focused on breathing and nothing else. Ultimately at some point the world went black around him. His shoulders slumped, relaxed. His hands loosened up, with his palms open.

He heard the wind chimes in the distance but now also heard the breeze, feeling it against his hair. Every few seconds the wind would gently blow and then be gone, and then come back again. In the distance he heard the rustle of fallen palms and further still a wooshing that sounded like waves crashing on the nearby beach. There was a pound-pound-pound sound coming from the nearby town and a faint din of crowds. His hairs came up on end as he felt the air and some drops of moisture carried by the wind land on his face. There were birds calling in the trees, and something else moving around them as well, some sort of small animal he didn't identify. Patrick sensed all off these different and diverse sensations, but yet all of them combined together in harmony and not in conflict with each other.

Coupled with all of this was the slight sound of his breath, going in and out. He could feel his own heartbeat pulsing throughout him. Next to him he heard another gentle breeze, but then realized what it was. He slowly opened his eyes and looked at her.

"It's...it's a bit like music," he realized at he spoke to Rei. "It sort of has a harmony to it, a rhythm that you can pick up if you try." She nodded at what he said.

"I could hear my own heartbeat and my breathing in all of that," he said, "and for a moment it didn't seem like I was out of place at all. I was part of all this."

_Good. He's capable of understanding it_. "What else did you feel?" Rei asked him.

"I sensed you were there. Even though you're so quiet you can still tell it's you. But there was something else...something...elusive. Like I could feel it there but I couldn't quite catch it, or even figure out what it was." He looked at her with a more serious expression. "This is what you can sense, isn't it?"

"It's a part of it," she said. "It goes much deeper, but every place has its own song. In this place, if we allow it we can become part of the song ourselves."

"Is this what you think about all the time?"

"Not all the time. I think about many things."

"Such as?"  
"I think about how the corn tasted. I think about what the moon will look like tonight. I think about the old woman who tied the obi of my _yugata_. I think about my first memories. I think about Ikari-kun..."

"What _do_ you think about Ikari-kun?"

Rei was about to answer when Patrick's satellite phone started ringing inside his bag. As he pulled the bag up to take out the phone, he heard footsteps and saw three marines behind them on the steps. Two of them had their weapons out, startling him. _What the heck?_ "Hello?"

"Patrick!" It was Admiral Vinson.

"Yes, sir!"

"There's been an emergency. I need you to get to EVA-04 now and get back to Tokyo-3."

"What's going on?"

"I'll explain later. Just get going. My men will take you back to the carrier." Overhead he heard the sound of a jet and saw a small fighter cruise over them that looked very close.

"We'll both get back immediately," Patrick replied. The two pilots looked at each other regretfully, as their holiday had abruptly come to an end.

A moment later another aircraft, this one a grey-painted helicopter, also appeared over the shrine. Once it landed the marines escorted both pilots inside and it then launched in the air towards the fleet offshore.


	6. Chapter 5: Turnabout

_Tokyo-3_

In Central Dogma, the spacious command center of NERV's GeoFront, a large holographic screen projected images of destruction. Hyuga and Aoba both gasped as they saw the inflicted damage on the Alliance's Pine Gap base.

A message appeared on Lieutenant Shigeru Aoba's display, and he quickly read it back for the others. "Reports are that the destruction is widespread, with the command center and satellite control array destroyed. All three runways are out of commission."

Admiral Vinson looked terse as he saw the videos. In the middle of the Australian Outback, Pine Gap was not just home to the Alliance's largest base, but also home to many of the family members of Alliance soldiers. From the grainy images he saw on the main display he saw few buildings that were left standing. For a moment his thoughts went to his own loved one who was also there. Training and determination kept him focused. "How many casualties?"

"Estimated to be in the thousands," Aoba reported, without looking at the others.

"My God, there were civilians on that base," Lieutenant Makoto Hyuga exclaimed.

Vinson kept his focus on the screen. "Don't expect them to play by any rulebook. Not after what happened here." He kept scanning the images, trying to find anything familiar when Aoba again received a message and swung around in his chair.

"Encrypted transmission from OLYMPUS on HW frequency," he said.

"Put him on," Vinson ordered.

A moment later the image of General Sheffield, military chief of staff of the Alliance, appeared on the larger holographic screen. He was wearing a bandage around his head, with blood appearing from the side. Despite that, he stood up firmly in an effort to keep up his appearance.

"Johnny, what the hell happened?"

"We here hit by a Mass Production EVA with no warning," Sheffield reported in his crisp British accent. "They got all the good bits, I'm afraid. We're done for here."

"How bad?"

"Bad enough. Our air power was knocked out in the attack, then the N2 finished off everything else. Only parts of the town outside are left."

Vinson looked at his old friend directly, asking the one question that gave him the most pause. "Maria?" he asked simply.

"She's safe, in one of the shelters. Colonel Burke's family as well. But they were among the lucky few."

Vinson allowed himself a sigh of relief, but then only for a moment. The meaning of General Sheffield's words "lucky few" were clear: many civilians had died as well as Alliance soldiers. There was a heavy silence as the gravity of the Englishman's statement was understood by him and to the others, both Alliance and NERV, in the control room.

A moment afterward through the rear doors of the command center came both Misato and Kaji at a running pace. They both stopped on the operations deck, Misato gasping as she saw the burning wreckage on the holographic screen.

The Admiral thought for a moment, considering what had happened. Pine Gap was as well defended as any of the Alliance's few outposts, but it was helpless against even a single, perhaps not even fully operational Evangelion. Worse, it had come completely without warning. He crossed his arms and considered his rather poor options at the moment. Addressing Misato and Kaji he said "It seems we have a serious problem."

"If they can do that there," Kaji observed, "then it could happen anywhere."

"Correct," Vinson replied. "With stealth aircraft as their delivery vehicles, SEELE has a global reach that we can't match at the moment. Even if we had mounted our own EVA on an air transport it'd take hours to get to Australia from there."

"Evangelion was intended as a defensive system," Misato said. "At least, ours were."

"We need to consider that fully," the Admiral said. "We're in a war against these old men, and wars are not won on the defensive." He turned to the video screen. "Johnnie, evacuate the base. Get everyone out. We'll get transports down there to pick you up." Vinson then turned to Misato. "Congratulations," he said. "You're now in charge of EVA operations…again. Recall your pilots and get them back here pronto. "

"It's already done," Misato replied. "Agent Kikuchi has them on a plane back from Germany now."

"Good. And," he pointed at her, "I want your plan for an _offensive_ employment of EVA against these bastards. I'm not just going to sit here and let them pick away at us."

"Yes, sir," Misato said.

"Also," Vinson said to Misato, "_Colonel_ Katsuragi, about your proposal. I can agree to most of it but we need to work out the details, and this is not the time."

Misato nodded with due seriousness. "Understood, sir."

The Admiral then faced Aoba. "Send a message to all Alliance units, have them evacuate their current posts and fall back on Tokyo-3."

"All of them?" Aoba asked.

"Yes. They'll be sitting ducks otherwise. This is the only place where we can defend them until we work something out. What's EVA-04's status?"

Hyuga answered that question. "On the way back to Tokyo-3. They'll be at Shin-Yokosuka within a few hours."

"Tell him to self-deploy the EVA and run it back here. Right now he's the best defense we have until the other pilots come back. Make sure the First Child is with him."

"She's in the entry plug of the EVA along with Unit 04's pilot," Hyuga reported.

"Good. Also," he directed Hyuga "Get the good Doctor Viraat to get up to speed with Unit 05 and whatever he's doing to resurrect it. Those Harpies will be coming here next."

"Yes, sir."

Misato gave Kaji a broken smile as he then playfully saluted her, winking as he did so. The now colonel smirked back at him for a moment. She then straightened her hair and walked over to the two controllers, both of whom had relieved smiles on their faces.

"Together again," Hyuga said to her quietly.

"Yes, but don't expect a repeat of the last war. This will something entirely different…and possibly quite worse." She then started discussing the current situation with both of them. As Kaji watched this, Vinson tugged as his shoulder and pulled him back. "I need a word with you," he said. The two men walked into an adjacent staff room and closed the door, speaking in quiet tones.

"I'm putting you in charge of intelligence and security for all of NERV, Mr. Kaji."

"Are we still calling it NERV at this point, sir?"

"We are. I'm not stupid or arrogant enough to think the Alliance can run Evangelion. Unfortunately there's not much NERV left at the moment." Vinson looked away from Kaji as his eyes pondered the various monitors in the conference room they were in, many of which were displaying images of the still heavily damaged GeoFront. "I know that after Unit 00 self-destructed a lot of local NERV staff handed in their resignations."

"That's true."

"We need them to come back here, but to do that we have to assure their protection. Those SEELE cocksuckers are going to try to kill as many of us as possible. I need you," he pointed at Kaji's chest, "to make sure we don't have a repeat of what happened two weeks ago. If those bastards get people infiltrated in here we might not be so lucky this time."

Kaji was thoughtful. "We'll need to screen returning staff carefully, and I would exempt Section Two personnel from returning, apart from Kikuchi and a few others known to us. Their loyalties were to Ikari directly, for the most part. " Section Two had been the security and intelligence side of NERV, something which the former commander had maintained very close control. Vinson nodded in agreement as Kaji continued. "Having sufficient ground defenses would also be critical."

The admiral knew that issue as well. "Unfortunately the Alliance, even when consolidated here in Tokyo-3, won't have the manpower to both protect the GeoFront and go after what type of military forces I expect that SEELE will be able to marshal against us. We'll need local help for that. How do we stand with the new Japanese government?"

"There's slow progress on an agreement at the moment," the agent replied. "Too many are hesitant to taking additional risks, considering all that Japan has endured so far."

"Then tell them that we're coming here whether they like it or not," Vinson snapped. "We need to wrap up a deal quickly. If money is what concerns them, then we'll give them a big cut of what technology spinoff we can work out of this place after it's all over. Hell, Doctor Foch was telling me that the bioengineering advances in the EVA program alone were worth one trillion dollars. That'll give them some incentive."

"It will go a long way," Kaji said, "but some concerns are not about money."

"I _do_ understand the sovereignty issues," the Admiral replied. "But possession's nine-tenth's of the law, and right now we _got_ the GeoFront, and we _got_ Three and a half EVAs and _all_ of the pilots. Of course," Vinson said more cynically, "they _could_ take their chances with the other guys."

The agent knew the admiral's meaning: at the moment, the Alliance perceived that they had the better hand and could operate EVA without the Japanese government being able to do much about it.

"I'm sure I can make them an offer they couldn't refuse."

Vinson smiled at the response. "Then get it done, _colonel, _and then get your ass back here. We have a lot of work to do."

* * *

_Alice Springs_

When Wellington woke up the first thing she felt was heat, as the air itself seemed like an unbearable furnace. She opened her eyes slowly and saw that she was lying prone on the ground, with large chunks of concrete and steel cable surrounding her. Two meters away she saw another Alliance soldier also prone on the ground. She moved slowly, crawling on the ground to reach him and nudge the guard on the shoulder. His head turned around slightly towards here and showed open, empty eyes looking at nothing. He was dead.

Taking a few breaths to gather strength, she pushed her body upwards. Pain reared through her muscles as she tried standing up. She got up to her feet, and noticed the steel cable stuck in her right calf. Limping along, she looked for something that she could tie around it.

Before the N2 bomb hit she had been just about to leave the base prison. It was when she had opened the outside door that the massive white EVA landed and started all type of mayhem on the base. She had immediately ran outside and gone for her radio in the Land Rover, but then as she watched the Harpy swat down the Alliance's aircraft like flies she knew the odds were not good for her own survival. It was a moment after she dove back inside the concrete prison that the N2 had exploded, blasting down the building in the wake of its shockwave.

She hobbled over the remaining wreckage, now looking around her and seeing smoke and flames in all directions. The lieutenant looked for anything moving that she could signal to for help, but nothing living was in immediate sight of her.

Wellington sensed movement and quickly turned to her right. Standing in front of her was a slender Japanese man in a prison uniform, the left arm of his tunic dangling at his side. She immediately pulled out the pistol in her holster and pointed it at Gendo Ikari.

Ikari didn't react, but just stood there. Wistfully he said to her, "Lieutenant, I think you could shoot me now if you like."

For a few moments she stared at the former NERV commander, her right hand gripping her pistol tightly. Not saying anything, she breathed deeply, keeping his head in the sights of her pistol.

_It would be so easy_, she thought. _It's not fair, all these blokes dead and this asshole standing in front of me without a scratch._

"Well," Ikari asked her calmly. "What will it be?"

Moira Wellington let her finger pull on the trigger just slightly, feeling the tension. "I'll give you one more chance, mate," she said tersely. "Why did you do it?"

"I told you already," Gendo said to her.

"No," she replied, her finger still on the trigger. "Give me the real reason." A long moment between the two followed.

Ikari looked around him and saw the destruction, and then calmly looked at the ground. Lifting his head, he could see the mad emotion in the young New Zealander's eyes. Gendo looked straight at her.

"For love," he said simply.

Wellington stood there with the pistol for another minute, letting her finger move so slightly on the trigger. Thoughts of a hundred others filled her mind: family and friends, all of them now dead, killed in Second Impact, all except one. But it was thoughts of the one that pulled her out of the depths of her anger. She pulled up the pistol and then holstered it. Ikari didn't react, but just stood there.

The officer hobbled over to where Ikari was standing and immediately grabbed him by his remaining arm, dragging him towards what remained of the Pine Gap base. The two of them slowly made their way across the desert floor.

"Don't think this is mercy," she said angrily in Gendo's ear. "If Mari's got any chance to beat these fuckers it's better with you alive than dead!" The man said nothing, but just quietly went along with the woman as she pulled him along.

* * *

_Japan_

After disembarking Unit 04 from its transport at the naval base of Shin-Yokosuka, Patrick Forrestal began walking it through the Japanese countryside to get it back to NERV's GeoFront base. Wearing his orange-colored plugsuit, he sat on the control throne and steadily pushed the EVA to move at a brisk, but not sprinting pace. He traveled in largely wilderness areas, careful to avoid any cities, highways or other infrastructure that could be damaged by the Evangelion's massive weight.

As the safest and most expedient method of transport available, Rei was also carried inside the entry plug of Unit 04. Like Patrick she wore her own plug suit, which was white.

The throne seat inside the entry plug was only built for one however, so Rei had at first knelt tightly behind Patrick on the throne seat as he piloted the Evangelion. Even despite Rei's small size it was slightly uncomfortable for them both in that position so Patrick proposed that she sit in front of him instead of behind and she was agreeable. Now perched on his lap, Rei sat in silence as the boy tried to concentrate on piloting.

At one point along the journey the EVA ran into a short mountain range and started to climb it. To steady them both on the upward climb Patrick gently put his arm around Rei's waist, pulling her closer to him. To his surprise she allowed him to hold her there. Once over the hills, Patrick conveniently forgot to remove his arm and they spent the rest of the journey in silence as he held her close enough to him that he could smell the sweet fragrance of her hair.

Avoiding populated areas didn't stop the EVA from being seen, and as Patrick headed West towards Lake Ashii thousands of people came out to watch the swiftly moving silver-white giant. Some carried handheld cameras, standing on rooftops and perched on verandas to get a glimpse of the often rumored giants. Through the video monitors on the entry plug Patrick could see many people on the ground crane their necks up, several waiving their hands or calling to him. Unlike the earlier training exercise with the fleet, he didn't wave back as any good mood was dispelled by thoughts of the disaster at Pine Gap. He hoped to God what he had heard about the Harpy attack wasn't nearly as horrible as it had sounded.

After thirty-five minutes of running Unit 04 reached Lake Ashii and they made their way north to the GeoFront. With much of the wreckage of Tokyo-3 city surrounding it and with the waters of the lake now receding from the opening at the top of the massive sphere, the GeoFront looked marred and ugly. Surrounding both the city ruins and the dome he could make out armored vehicles, missile launchers and other weapons of the Alliance. Standing on the far side of the dome's opening was a familiar bright, giant red humanoid figure: Evangelion Unit 02, who was patrolling with a pallet gun held at the ready.

Patrick switched on a video link. "Hey, Asuka," he called out, but the pilot image of the video link wasn't of Asuka. Instead it was Mari Illustrious, Unit 05's pilot.

"Mari?" Patrick said in surprise.

"Hello, you two," she said cheerfully. Mari was wearing her green and white plugsuit, which looked quite different from the Japanese-made plugsuits that Patrick and Rei had on. She wore an eye patch over her left eye from injuries she suffered two weeks earlier, her glasses placed over it. Her brown hair was held back by a white hair comb that also contained her A10 sensors, and tied in twin tails as it normally was. The British pilot smiled widened a bit when she noticed the two of them seated close together. "Have a nice time on holiday?"

"I think so," Patrick said, now gently removing his arm around Rei's waist as he piloted the EVA towards the elevators. "What are you doing with Asuka's EVA?"

"While everyone was out Dr. Viraat did a core swipe with Unit 02, so at least we'd have one functional EVA around. Now with what happened in Australia they've had me out here if case those buggers show up."

Nestled up against his co-pilot on the trip back to Tokyo-3, Patrick had almost forgotten the reason for their hasty return. "Before we left the fleet they told us it was pretty bad," he said to Mari. Her expression became much more serious.

"The whole bloody base is gone," she said. "Wellie got out of it somehow, but not many others did. They're transporting all of the survivors back here to Tokyo-3."

Patrick breathed a sigh. "I guess vacation's over, then." Mari just gave him a broken smile.

Being directed by the NERV controllers, Patrick maneuvered Unit 04 over to an elevator within the ruins of Tokyo-3 city. Standing on the platform, he heard a buzz as a large magnet took hold of the EVA by the feet and then the elevator platform shot down rapidly underground.

As the EVA was pulled underground to the cages Patrick looked at Rei, still sitting patiently on his lap. "Sorry our holiday got cut short," he said to her.

"It can't be helped," she replied quietly. He smiled at her but Rei didn't return the smile as she looked at the monitors around them at nothing in particular. Patrick thought she looked disappointed that she was returning to the GeoFront. They both stayed quiet until the EVA landed at the bottom of the elevator shaft, over a thousand meters below ground. Within a few minutes another large mechanical conveyor moved the EVA over to the cages where it was normally stored. Locking noises were heard along with warning signals in the entry plug, and then the plug itself was pulled out.

Both pilots excited the entry plug, shaking themselves to free up any LCL that didn't get drained off in the plug removal process. Patrick handed Rei her travel bag and when he went to go for his own he heard a "farewell" and quickly turned around. Rei had taken her bag and had already quickly walked down the gangway to the pilot lockers.

_I guess she's not happy to be back. Neither am I, for the most part._

* * *

Patrick didn't get much chance to rest once EVA-04 returned to the cage. After showering in the boy's pilot locker room, Hyuga showed up to inform him that he needed to re-suit and re-deploy in Unit 04 to relieve Unit 02 in patrolling the outside. Grudgingly Patrick complied, and while exhausted from the non-stop journey from the Ryukyu Islands since the previous evening, he knew the importance of the job. Everyone who had seen the footage of what happened to Pine Gap was scared enough that the same thing could also happen to Tokyo-3. There was no need to debate the point.

The boy spent the next twelve hours in the EVA, slowly patrolling the above surface of the GeoFront and the remains of Tokyo-3 city. The entire period was uneventful, save for Misato contacting him once on the video link to welcome him back and keep him up to date on events. Walking past the city he could make out a Gulfstream VI landing on Airfield One that he knew to be the Alliance's, and a few moments later he saw three figures walking out of the aircraft, one of which had flaming red hair. Just afterward Misato called him in and now completely exhausted he again went to the elevators.

Now with Shinji and Asuka back from Germany Misato called a meeting of all five active pilots. Patrick removed his plug suit and put on an Alliance camouflage top and pants. Even after nearly three weeks from the attack on Tokyo-3 he noticed that still hadn't had time to get proper clothes.

An exhausted Patrick dragged himself down to the pilot ready room. Waiting for him there was Mari, still wearing her plug suit. Patrick noticed that her lower right leg was still in a cast, with the bottom of her plugsuit pulled over the cast itself. Also waiting there was Rei, who wore an old school uniform.

"Hi!" he said to Rei.

"Hello," she responded in a monotone voice. She had gone back to her unemotional side.

"Hello," Mari also said. "Any trouble?"

"No, I about fell asleep out there a couple of times." Before anyone could say anything further, Shinji and Asuka appeared with Misato behind them. All three were in an animated conversation when they entered.

"Hi, Guys!" Patrick greeted them. "How was Germany?"

Shinji and Asuka looked tired but also very relaxed. Looking at each other first, Shinji then replied "I guess it went okay." They both smiled when he said that, and Patrick assumed things were probably a lot more than "okay" between the two of them.

Once Shinji walked into the room, Rei rose up and stood in front of him. Shinji's smile brightened more.

"Ayanami! Hello!"

"Hello, Ikari-kun" Rei's own eyes brightened up a little as well. Asuka gave her a dirty look but otherwise continued in chit-chat with Misato.

"How was the cruise?" Shinji asked.

"It was interesting," she said still in a monotone voice.

Before everyone could start trading stories Kaji entered the room, and Asuka excitedly broke free of Shinji and hugged him. He gently but quickly extracted himself from Asuka and stood in front of the ready room next to Misato, who asked everyone to sit down and listen. All of the pilots quickly complied.

Misato straightened up. She was now wearing a blue and green camouflage uniform akin to the Alliance troops, except that she kept her old NERV red officer's jacket and beret. Kaji wore just a dress shirt and pants with a loose tie, as he nearly always seemed to wear. With him at her side, Misato cleared her throat and her facial expression became deadly serious.

"You all know what happened in Australia yesterday," she started. "We had long feared that SEELE would strike back at us as soon as they could and yesterday they proved that they're playing for keeps."

"They won't stop there," she said. "As they can strike nearly everywhere on Earth with little or no warning they now present a grave threat to humanity's attempt to rebuild."

"So what happens now?" Mari asked.

"The Alliance is reforming NERV, only this time it's not to fight Angels but to defeat SEELE and specifically any of their own remaining Evangelions."

"So there's still a NERV left, then," Asuka commented.

"Not much of one," Kaji interjected. "We're still too few to really fully support the EVA program, and many of the personnel now here are from Third Branch or NERV UK in Europe. The organization is working to hire back many of its Japanese employees who quit after the 16th Angel," everyone briefly turned to look at Rei as he said that. Rei for her part expressed no emotion. "But there will be a need to screen returning staff carefully, as there's a significant fear of enemy infiltration."

"We have a lot to do and not nearly enough time or resources to properly do the job," Misato said. "This won't be like before and the battles against the Angels. The UN is gone now, and so is the funding. The new NERV has to repair the EVAs we have, and then both defend the GeoFront here and also hunt down the SEELE EVAs and destroy them.

Shinji and Rei looked at each other, and then Shinji asked "What happens now?"

"First priority is to get the EVAs we have in fighting shape. Units 01 and 04 are OK, Unit 02 is functional but will need an upgrade in order to work outside of the Geofront."

"Like what," demanded Asuka as she narrowed her glance.

"You get one of the S2 engines that we recovered from the destroyed Mass Production series."

"Yes!" the redhead exclaimed. "No more power cable!" Shinji and the others weren't so excited. Wasn't it the S2 that made Unit 04 disappear?" he asked Misato. Before she could answer Patrick closed his eyes and responded without looking. He had nearly forgotten the bad memories of that day. "That had nothing to do with the S2 itself," he said.

"After we successfully mount the S2 into Unit 02," said Misato, "priority will switch to getting Unit 05 reconstructed. The plan is to have four EVAs ready within the month and I've been told we might get at least one other."

Mari's face turned a slight smile. "Does that mean we have another pilot coming?"

"No, " Kaji answered this time. "Unit 06 was under constructed in China but was never completed. Like your Unit 05 it was partially-built and then stripped for spare parts. The Alliance will take the existing portions and try to complete the assembly, providing us with a backup unit. To our knowledge there was no designated pilot."

Misato continued. "If we're successful in doing so, I'll assign the unit to Rei. Otherwise Rei is the backup pilot for all four of the existing EVAs. There's one last major issue to clear up."

"What's that?" asked Patrick.

"Where you'll be living. The hospital is being cleared out to take on the casualties from the Australia attack, and it's not considered easy to secure in any case. So you're all being moved to other quarters inside the GeoFront."

Asuka crossed her arms. "Do I still get my own room?"

Misato smiled at her just a little. "We're still putting some things together so there will be a temporary arrangement. Just bear with us for the while."

Kaji stood up from leaning on the wall and now spoke again. "All of you need to consider that you are high-priority targets for SEELE," he said with an unusually serious expression. "As you've no doubt noticed we've put in very careful provisions for your protection. Your actual living quarters in the GeoFront will be kept secret, even from most within NERV itself. It might be cramped or inconvenient for the moment but it's better than being in the open where you would be in danger."

"I'm OK with that," Shinji said. Rei then spoke up. "Does that apply to me as well?"

"Yes, it does," Misato answered. "We'll work out the arrangements in a bit. In the meantime please try to relax here and we'll get you moved in. Mari?" Misato asked.

"Yes, colonel?"  
"Give Asuka some chance to get rested. Go to the cages, you're next on patrol with Unit 02. "  
"WHAT!?" Asuka said in astonishment. "WHAT'S _SHE_ DOING WITH MY EVA?"

"Well," Misato started, "you were having so much fun in Germany we didn't want to bother you just yet, so we just _temporarily _reprogrammed Unit 02 for Mari until you got back."

The redhead stared daggers at Misato "How could you?" Misato just folded her arms and silently smiled back.

Mari playfully patted Asuka on the shoulder. "Oh, don't worry old girl, she doesn't mind one bit." The redhead flung off Mari's hand and thought of doing something else before the other pilot quickly moved out of range, rushing to leave the briefing room with a broad smile on her face. As Mari hobbled out quickly Asuka pointed to her out the door and shouted "You better not leave so much as a scratch on her, or you are _so_ dead!"

The arrangements that Misato referred to were simple enough. Deep in one of the sub-layers of the GeoFront Alliance engineers had set aside a floor of what before were junior officer's quarters for NERV deep mechanical engineering staff. Like most other areas of the GeoFront, there was significant damage done by the JSSDF assault, and many of the rooms were unlivable in their current condition. Two sets of suites on the floor were reasonably better, with one assigned aside for the girls and the other for the boys. Whatever engineers and maintenance technicians could be spared worked on the rest of the suites on the floor to eventually allow each pilot their own individual living space. The entire floor was under heavy surveillance and there were several armed guards from the Alliance Marines as well posted at all times. Entry came from one elevator shaft (which required a special key) and a hidden emergency stairwell.

The boys suite currently consisted of just two small adjoining bedrooms and a kitchenette with a common living space: it was small by even Japanese standards. Living there were Shinji and Patrick, who shared one room, and Agent Kikuchi who had the other. There were other bedrooms in the suite that were in disrepair, and these were blocked off to await remodeling. As Units 01 and 04 traded patrol duties Shinji and Patrick were not usually in the suite at the same time, which lessened the crowding and suited both pilots just fine. The trouble began with the girls' suite.

* * *

"Why can't I get my own room?" Asuka shouted. "There's like two dozen rooms on this floor and you're squeezing all of us into one bedroom?!" Shinji and Rei both stood in the little living room and watched as Asuka clenched her fists and blew her frustrations out at her superior.

Misato patiently endured the tantrum as PenPen waddled around the new place. "Nothings ready for any of you to live in it yet," she explained. "Besides, it's possible the JSSDF left booby-traps behind. Even if it looks safe it might not be."

"But there's two bedrooms in this suite," argued Asuka. "At least let me share the other one with you."

"Sorry, but that's just for me and PenPen."

"_Just_ the two of you?"

Misato didn't immediately reply but just folded her arms and looked at her. "And who else I have in my bedroom is my business."

Asuka's eyes went wider. "You _wouldn't_…not with us children present!"

"As I said, it's not anyone's concern including yours," Misato said. "Now the arrangement is only temporary. Just deal with it, OK?"

"I'll sleep on the couch, then" Asuka countered, still determined to have her way.

"It gets cold at night here, they still haven't really fixed the heating and air yet," Misato replied. "You'll freeze if you're out here."

The redhead then tried a different tack. "Okay, if that's the case," she walked over to where Shinji was and put her arms around him. "I'll just sleep in Shinji's suite then." This surprised Shinji as much as Misato, and while Shinji knew not to say anything Misato didn't appreciate Asuka's childish challenge.

"You will do no such thing!"

"What are you, my mother?" Asuka sneered.

"What's so wrong with sharing a bedroom with a couple of girls for a few nights! "I'm pretty sure she's harmless," Misato told her, looking at Rei. "Besides, Rei needs to learn how to adjust to this too."

"Screw you!" Asuka looked back at Misato in outright anger. "I'm not going to share a room with her! No, No, NO!" Misato just stood there with her arms still folded. She seemed calm on the outside, but Shinji knew the look on her face, the one that appeared before a volcano usually erupted. He sighed quietly and glanced at Rei, who also quietly met his glance with a resigned look on her face. About a second later the eruption occurred and it shook the whole suite.

Kaji stood outside the front door, pausing for a moment as he listened to the heated shouting match between Asuka and Misato. He smiled to himself a little before opening the door. _Things are going pretty much as I expected._

As Kaji opened the door he could see the two girls going at each other full-bore. Asuka's fists were clenched and she stood a foot away from Misato as both of them loudly argued in each other's faces in both Japanese and German. He glanced at Shinji, who gave him a worried look.

Without saying anything Kaji quickly inserted himself between the two girls. Misato thought to protest but Kaji held his hand up to her motioning to be quiet and then turned to Asuka. "What seems to be the trouble," he asked her calmly, already knowing the answer.

"This whole thing sucks! I have to live here in the freaking dungeon, can't go out, it's freezing in here and I have to sleep in the same room as her!" Asuka pointed to Rei.

"What's so bad about that?"

"Because she's…she's…" The redhead struggled to find the words she wanted. "She's _weird_, that's why!"

Rather than argue with her, Kaji gently set his hands on Asuka's shoulders. "I understand the circumstances aren't what you'd like, but you need to bear with us for the while. This situation was as difficult for us as it was for yourself."

Asuka protested strongly. "But I shouldn't be here at all! I should be with…"

"Your EVA?" Kaji got to the heart of the matter. Asuka thought to fight back but paused a bit. As she struggled Kaji looked at her with warm eyes, and gently brushed her hair with his hand. The girl managed to calm herself down as Misato stood next to them with arms folded, also trying to calm herself down.

"EVA pilots belong with their EVAs, it's true, and I will rectify the situation as soon as I can. In the meantime, please show me your mettle and prove to me you can endure this." Asuka looked down at the floor and then met his eyes reluctantly. Shinji watched the exchange and thought to himself _In some ways she's still in love with him, or maybe he's just a substitute father. Maybe it's both…_

"OK," she said to him, more calm this time. "But I want my own room!"

"Would you prefer Rei sleep in Shinji's room, then?" He looked at the two of them, now sitting together on the couch.

"No."  
"That's the choice you have. I'm sure you can handle it if it's a temporary arrangement."

Seeing no victory, Asuka sighed, slumping her shoulders. "Fine." She grabbed her suitcase next to the wall and dragged it over to the girls' bedroom. "She'd better not snore!"

"That's a good girl," Kaji complimented.

"I think now's a good time for everyone to go to bed," Misato said. On hearing that the weary children all made their way to the bedrooms. Shinji left to go to his own suite (where Patrick was already sleeping, worn out from the day's operations). Penpen waddled to Misato's room to sleep in his cooler. Misato and Kaji saw to it that both girls were set up in their room and then closed the door. Kaji then spent a couple of minutes on the communicator with the security team outside, while Misato slipped in the common bathroom.

A few minutes later Kaji was waiting for her on the futon in her bedroom as she walked back in, carefully shutting the door behind her. She put out the light in the bedroom and then slipped inside the futon covers, snuggling next to Kaji and letting out a long sigh of relief.

"I hope things weren't too unmanageable," Kaji asked her.

"Asuka's just anxious about being cut off from Unit 02, especially as Mari's piloting her for now," said Misato. "That's to be expected. Everything's changing for them, so they're on edge."

"How is the First Child handling things?"

"There's going to be some major adjustments on her part. What I wonder is whether she's capable of it after having spent so much time locked away by herself like she was."

"I'm sure she'll find ways to adapt. Her mind is very keen and perceptive but it will be interesting how she manages in an environment where she's not being directed what to do for every step of her life."

"Yeah," Misato sighed. "I worry about what else might have gone on between her and Ikari." She spoke of the former commander. "Some of the signs she shows indicate abuse in some way, certainly emotional deprivation. I wish I was able to get her out of here and into some better environment. Actually I really wish I could give all the kids something better."

"You took a risk by sending Asuka back to Germany with Shinji," Kaji observed.

"I know, but they really needed the time off. Everyone did. Now we're facing something that could be worse than the Angels and we need to get them focused on the current threat." Misato gently brushed through Kaji's hair with her fingers. "You certainly knew how to calm Asuka down, though. I think I'm a little jealous!"

"There were many times back in Germany where I needed that approach when she threw a tantrum. Seeing how she's cut off from her own father, playing substitute was about the best way I could reach her."

"How about me?" Misato asked him playfully. "Do I want my daddy to come home to me too?"

Kaji smiled and gently unwrapped the bath towel Misato was wearing with his hand. She breathed in deep as he glided his hand around her naked body, feeling from her waist up to her breasts. There were still bandages wrapped around her waist, but they were now smaller than before. Her wounds from being shot had almost healed. When Kaji touched her abdomen she recoiled just a little.

"Sorry," he said. "If you're still in pain maybe I should…" Misato shut him up with a kiss. "I'm just fine," she said. The two of them looked at each other in the darkness for a long while.

"Sometimes, when I was out there this was all I could think of, just trying to find a way back home," Kaji finally said at a whisper. Misato kept running her fingers through his hair, feeling for the ponytail that was no longer there. "I don't know, I think I like you better with your hair short."

"You're kidding, right? I _hate_ it being like this!"

"I could get used to it…"

"My hair being short?"

"The whole being at home thing was what I had in mind." Misato moved her fingers from his hair to his chest, gently massaging him until he also breathed deep in arousal. He smiled at her.

"That works for me, too"

"Then welcome home." Misato slid along the futon as Kaji slipped on top of her. It was colder in the room than she would have liked, but she didn't care. With the two of them finally together it was plenty warm already. She gently slipped of Kaji's remaining clothes as he began to kiss her on her lips and neck, letting her hands run all over his muscular body as he brought himself close to her in the dark.

In the next bedroom, Asuka lay in one futon as Rei lay in the other one meter apart. Both of them were silent as they settled in, but despite how tired they were neither one of them could sleep.

"You know this is just temporary, right?" Asuka told Rei. "After Kaji's gone I'll talk to Misato and rework the arrangement."

"Sure," Rei replied. Asuka said to her "you better not roll around or anything. Just sleep there far away, OK?" the other girl said nothing but just reclined again in the futon.

Another minute later Asuka rolled over and spoke to her. "Hey, First?" Rei opened her eyes and looked at Asuka.

"Can I ask you a question?" The blue-haired girl didn't say anything in reply but just looked at Asuka.

"Just who _is_ Kaworu anyway? He's supposed to be an Angel but Shinji talks about him like he's his best friend. What's up with that?"

"When Ikari-kun was alone," Rei said, "The one named Kaworu was there. Each was curious about the other, but like all Angels the one named Kaworu sought to make contact. In Ikari-kun's case he reached his heart."

Asuka made a frown. "All I can say is that it's pretty creepy. On the other hand, the Angels were getting their asses kicked, I suppose it made sense for one of them to come in disguise as a person."

"He had the body of a human," Rei told her, "but he knew nothing of human things. Shinji presented to him the most human thing he had ever seen. The attraction was understandable."

"The attraction?" Asuka asked, getting up out of the futon and sitting on top. "First! Tell me honestly, girl to girl…Is Shinji gay?"

Rei was firm. "He is _not_ like that," she replied. "Did you feel that he is?"

"Well, no!" Asuka protested. "I mean, in Germany he was like a different person almost. Kind of a nice change of pace from his usual self, actually. Anyway, sometimes he just kept talking about this Kaworu guy. It just bothered me, that's all." She let out a big yawn. "Anyway, don't go keeping me up at night with all of this talk. I need to get some shut eye, OK?" With that Asuka slipped back under the futon and went quiet, and the Rei rolled back to sleep.

A noise in the night woke Rei up some time later. Sleepily she rolled over to see what it was and noticed that the futon next to her was now empty, the door to the bedroom left slightly open. Rei wasn't alarmed at Asuka's disappearance as to her it wasn't difficult to determine where she was headed. She rolled over again and went back to sleep.


	7. Chapter 6: Expanding Horizons

When Rei woke up in the morning, Asuka was gone from the room. In her place was Mari Illustrious who had knocked out completely on the futon that Asuka was using, dressed in a pink nightgown with decorative bunnies. Rei didn't wake up Mari but just stood up herself and made her way to the bathroom. After fulfilling her own biological functions Rei walked to the living room, wearing just her nightshirt and slippers.

Opening the bedroom door she saw Kaji about to leave out the front, but embraced in a long kiss with Misato. The two of them noticed her as she stood there watching them and both smiled in slight embarrassment.

Misato whispered to Kaji, "we've been caught."

"Good luck with them," he replied.

"I'll be fine, It'll be fun!" She answered with more concern. "When will you be back?"

"I'll try not to be too long," Kaji said and then gave her one final quick kiss. "See ya," Misato said softly, patting his chest. "Ciao," he said in reply and he turned and left out the front door. After closing the door, Misato turned to Rei and smiled "Good morning!"

"Good morning," Rei said expressionlessly.

"Did you get a good night's sleep?"

"Yes."

"So, Asuka was no trouble then?"

"No. She wanted to talk and then after an hour she went to Ikari-kun's room."

"Oh, really?" Misato said with a sly voice.

Just as she said that, they spotted Asuka trying to very carefully open the front door without being seen. She peeked the door open just a little and tried to silently move outside until Misato greeted her cheerfully. "Good Morning!" Asuka froze in place.

"Uh, Good Morning!"

"So," Misato started in, "what are you doing outside?"

"I went over to Shinji's suite. I needed to wake him up. You know how hard it is for him to get up on time!"

Misato crossed her arms. "Rei says you spent the night with Shinji last night."

Asuka stared daggers at Rei and then faced Misato. "So what. Anyway, he asked me to come over. He said he was cold."

"That seems unlikely." Misato smirked and then went into serious mode. "Go get changed. You've got training going on today."

"I just got back!"

Misato ignored the protest. "You'll be happy to know that they're doing the core switch on Unit 02 today, so you can have her back as soon as they finish. In the meantime you better start getting ready: one they install the S2 organ in Unit 02 you're going on deployment."

Asuka was actually a bit pleased that she'd finally get her EVA back, but didn't really want to show it to the others. "Fine," she pouted. "I'll just go and change then." She stomped back to her bedroom, sneering at Rei as she did so. "Snitch," she said under her breath. As she opened the door she saw that her futon was already in use. "Would you mind!" she shouted to Mari. "First you take my EVA, and now you take my futon!" The other pilot slowly pulled herself up a little. She winced in the bright light without her glasses on.

"Bloody hell, girl, I got back at seven this morning!"

"I don't care! Get your own futon, damn it!" Asuka slammed the door behind her.

A moment later Shinji opened the front door. "Uh, Good Morning." He was wearing his regular school uniform of a white shirt and blue trousers.

"Good Morning," Misato said as she reached into a backpack that was sitting on the floor and fished for something. She said nothing to him about Asuka's visit during the previous night. She'd deal with that later with him.

He smiled at Rei "Good morning!" She smiled slightly back. "Good morning."

Misato had found what she was looking for in the backpack. As he stepped out Misato motioned to Rei to sit on the couch as she opened up the black vinyl bag in her hands. "How long since your last injection Rei?"

"Six days, four hours."

"Then you probably need this right now. Have a seat and roll up a sleeve, please." Rei followed Misato's instructions as Shinji watched. "Misato, what's that?" He pointed to the syringe with orange liquid in her hands.

"That," she replied, "is an LCL stabilizer. This keeps Rei's body from destroying itself from within."

Shinji's eyes' opened wide in realization. "She needs that to live?"

"Yes. Fortunately Maya told me about this before she left so I made sure I have an ample supply with me."

Shinji looked at Rei as Misato tied a rubber line and then gently felt for an artery on Rei's left arm. After a minute she found a good spot and then slowly slid in the needle into the artery. Rei was expressionless, not even wincing at the penetration. For his part Shinji found it difficult to watch and turned away.

"Does it hurt," he asked Rei.

"No," she replied. Misato finished putting in the serum and then withdrew the needle, placing a cotton ball and tape on the injection spot. "Done for now. Do you have your own supply of this?" she asked Rei, who then realized that she actually had left it on the_ Liberator_. "No, I had left it on the ship."

"You need to carry this with you at all times from now on. In case you're separated from any of us you can still get your medication on time. Otherwise we really don't want to lose you." Misato smiled and tried to make a joke: "You don't have any spares of you left, you know?" Rei didn't show any reaction but simply said "_Hai_," and nodded.

"What happens if she doesn't take it on time," Shinji asked, now looking at the two of them again.

"Her white blood cells begin to attack the rest of her body. It could be dangerous if she goes for too long without it."

"Wow," Shinji replied. He smiled weakly at Rei who just sat there without expression. _One more important thing I now know about her…_

Asuka came out of the bedroom wearing a black biketard with a grey sweatshirt over it bearing a NERV logo. She briefly said "good morning" to Shinji but with Misato in the room held back her normal affection for now. All of them made their way to the kitchen. Rei was already there, placing hot water on the little stove to boil.

"I'm glad at least one of us can cook," Misato said to Shinji as they began unpacking the kitchen. The boy opened up the cabinets and saw cooking tools and utensils, some of them in disrepair. Also there were boxes of dry foodstuffs and other items, left by the previous occupants some weeks ago.

"Umm," Shinji said, "I don't know if we can use any of this..."

"I was afraid of that. Good thing I came prepared!" Misato reached into a large plastic container sitting on the floor and pulled out a series of instant ramen packages, staking them not so neatly on the kitchen table.

"Is that all you brought?" he asked.

"I've got instant _yakisoba_ too, and instant _somen_, and instant rice bowls," Misato said proudly. "Gotta have some variety, you know."

Asuka opened up another one of the large plastic containers, revealing a large amount of glass and aluminum bottles, the types used for alcoholic beverages. Pulling out one of the sake bottles, she showed it to Shinji. "I see she's got more _variety _here, too," she said dryly. Misato smiled in embarrassment.

Not being inexperienced on how to work around Misato's food choices, Shinji took the instant ramen and whatever else he could find in the kitchen and still managed to make a meal out of it. The three pilots and Misato sat at the table, slurping their noodles and drinking the hot broth. Given the colder temperature inside the suite, no one complained.

"Misato, where did Kaji go?" Shinji asked her.

"China," she replied.

Asuka raised her head. "China?!"

Misato nodded. "Yup. He'll be gone for a few days to recover Evangelion Unit 06. Hopefully most of it is still intact."

Shinji and Asuka couldn't hide their disappointment and sighed deeply. "At least I hope he brings us back some better food," Asuka remarked. Misato ignored the carping and turned her attention to Rei, who was just silently slurping her instant ramen. "So, Rei," she asked, her chin resting on her hand. "How was your little cruise?"

"It was good," she said quietly.

"Did you do anything interesting?"

"I read mostly."

Asuka rolled her eyes. "That must have been thrilling for you," she said cynically.

Rei lifted her head. "We did go an island on one day."

"Really," Misato said. "And how was that?"

"It was interesting. We went to the beach and saw coral tide pools. Then we visited a small village on the other side."

"With Patrick?"

"Yes."

Shinji and Misato looked at each other, and then back at Rei "And..."

Rei raised her eyebrows. "And what?"

"You got along well with Patrick then, did you?" Misato asked, trying to pry further.

"Yes."

Misato glanced at Shinji again, smirking a little. "Well, that's good. I'm sure you were glad to get away from NERV for a while."

"It was an intriguing experience."

"In what way?" Misato asked.

"Not being required to do anything," Rei replied.

"It's a vacation," the older woman concluded. "I guess you never had a holiday before, either."

"Correct."

"Hey, when do we get to go outside here?" Asuka moped. "Don't tell me we're stuck inside the GeoFront all day?"

"I'll let you outside once we're completely secured," Misato replied. "Just try to relax and enjoy it here."

Asuka and Shinji grunted. "Yes, Colonel, " said Rei.

Misato suddenly stood up off the table. "Oh, no. Rei, you're in my house now, so no titles here." Rei looked up at her confused, as Shinji and Auska stopped eating and watched.

"I cannot call you Colonel?"

"Correct."

"I understand, Katsuragi-san."

"No!" Misato leaned forward towards Rei, who was still wearing a confused expression. Drawing the hiragana in the air with her finger, Misato pronounced "MI – SA -TO!"

Rei was reluctant at first, not wanting to say anything. "Say it!" Misato challenged her.

"But Katsuragi-san, it's inappropriate to..."

Misato lost her patience and to the shock of the other two pilots quickly leaned over the table and messed up Rei's hair with her right hand. "AH-AH-AH! Say it!"

Shinji watched as Rei facial expression became pensive, as contradictory thoughts raced through her mind. In all the time he had known her, Rei had never addressed anyone by their first name. He also knew that Misato probably knew that too, and was trying to close the distance between Rei and the rest of them. It had been the same with him, when he had first met Misato.

The older woman glared at Rei for a while as she unhappily met her gaze. After a few moments Rei sighed softly and glanced at Shinji, who smiled a little and nodded in encouragement.

She glanced back at Misato, defeated. "Misato-san." Misato straightened up, smiling in response to her little victory. "Good. You've lived by yourself your whole life, Rei. I know that. But it's time you start learning how to deal properly with others, and how to fit in with a normal family."

Shinji looked around the kitchen they were sitting in, seeing what was in the one day they were living there already a mess of saké bottles, instant food packages, and other things strewn around. _Perhaps this isn't the best environment to learn how to be normal..._

* * *

After their makeshift breakfast Misato dispatched Asuka with a couple of sentries to a physical training area she had already set up. Telling Asuka she'd join her in a little while, Misato then stayed in the suite with Shinji and Rei for a little while longer and making sure each had what they needed. Misato promised both she would get them new clothes, so they didn't have to keep wearing school uniforms and what little else they had. Finally, Misato asked Rei to stay in the suite until called for, and then went out with Shinji to the hallway, walking over to the elevator that traveled up to the rest of the GeoFront.

When the elevator doors closed, Misato keyed in a special code and the elevator rose straight up without stopping. They talked on the way up.

"So, any trouble sleeping last night?" she asked in an innocent-sounding voice.

"Uh, no," Shinji said. "Patrick was completely asleep when I got back, so it was quiet."

"Agent Kikuchi was there too, correct?"

"He was. He didn't stay in his room much, just hung out in the living room."

"Good." Misato narrowed her glance at Shinji. "And I heard that there was one _more_ guest in the room last night, too."

Shinji blushed a little. "Oh, that. Yeah, she comes every night pretty much."

"_Every_ night?"

"Since the last battle."

"Shinji, is there anything that I should be worried about here…" The boy became really nervous at Misato's implication. "No, no, no!" he protested. "I mean, she just sleeps next to me, that's all."

Misato smiled knowingly. "I understand, but probably she needs to get used to sleeping on her own again. Besides," she playfully pointed at his chest, "I wouldn't want her to take from you first what's rightfully _mine_!" As Misato grinned at him Shinji's face went a pale shade of white.

The older woman saw the boy's shocked expression and laughed it off. "I kid, I kid. Can't you take a joke?" she gently knocked on his head. "Seriously, both of you need to cool it off a little. Things are going to get very serious here quickly and you need to focus on what's coming. OK?"

"Got it, Misato," Shinji sighed.

They were both silent for a moment longer as the elevator nearly reached the command level. Shinji looked at Misato and asked a question that he really didn't want to know the answer to. "Misato?"

"Yes?"

"Wasn't my father at the Australia base?"

"Yes, he was. Fortunately for him he was in the base prison, which was probably the most protected building in the place. He survived without a scratch."

"I see," Shinji replied, looking down at the floor. "Are they bringing him back here with the others?"

"No," Misato said. "They'll hold him in some other secret location, away from here. Hopefully it's an unpleasant one." Shinji just nodded silently. Misato gently reached out and put her hand on the boy's shoulder. "He can't harm you anymore. You know that, right?"

"I know," he replied. "I was just thinking about it, that's all."

Misato changed the subject. "How you do think Rei's getting along so far?"

"Same as always. I think she's OK, but you can't always tell with her. I just wish Asuka wouldn't treat her like that."

"Everyone has a limit," Misato replied. "I think we might actually find out where Rei's is. Anyway, try to get some rest today," she told him. "You're on the night shift in Unit 01, so you have a long night ahead of you." Shinji again silently nodded and then they both exited the elevator as it opened up on the command deck.

Misato sent Shinji to the hospital for a quick check up, then ordered him to go back to the suite and rest in preparation for tonight. After being sure he left with a guard, Misato called Aoba and Hyuga and asked them to both meet her in a hallway away from the command center and her office. In fifteen minutes they met her in the remote corner, which was badly lit but was at least away from the more well-traveled passageways of the command deck.

Once they two junior officers arrived they discussed several topics in soft voices, checking to make sure they were not overheard by anyone and especially by Alliance personnel.

"Any luck with the MAGI," she asked Aoba.

"I'm afraid not. The good news is that even with the lockout we at least have control over operational functions in the GeoFront. We can operate the EVA launch and retrieval system, at least the parts that aren't damaged. The knowledge base on EVA engineering is inaccessible, however."

"They're giving us just enough room to run EVA but not to go too far," Hyuga commented. "It's almost like they want us to walk but not run."

"They're watching us," Misato mused. "Waiting to see how the new situation affects everything. Did the Alliance try anything to get access?"

"They did," Hyuga said. "They had two of their own hackers in here yesterday trying to pry into the databanks. No luck."

"Good," Misato said. "MAGI's one of our trump cards for when this marriage ends in a messy divorce."

"But we can't get through to it either," Aoba commented. "All of the security protocols were held by either Dr. Agaki or the Commander. We don't know where to even begin!"

"And I don't even want to consider going inside the MAGI's physical core," Hyuga continued. "They could see that as a threat and shut everything down!"

The colonel pondered for a moment. "We really need Maya for this." She looked up at the two men. "Any word at all from her?"

Hyuga shook his head. "Nothing since she left," he said. "I think she was pretty freaked out after the attack."

"I know, but we got to get some sort of access to MAGI and she's our only real remaining asset." In a couple of seconds Misato brewed up a plan in her head and gave it to the other two. Both nodded in agreement and then broke up the meeting. It was going to be a long week for everyone.

After his checkup at the hospital Shinji walked back to the pilot suites. Like everywhere else they went, there was at least one soldier going with him into all areas of the GeoFront (including the bathrooms), and traveling with him in the elevator he took to the sub-level the pilots now lived on. Their presence stopped at the suite door, however, and the tall, Caucasian solder simply stood at attention by the door as Shinji walked inside.

Finding himself unable to take a nap as Misato encouraged him to do earlier, Shinji worked in the kitchen, collecting the materials he would need to work up lunch for the girls. As he searched for pots to use, Shinji noticed Rei was standing in the kitchen and silently looking at him. She wore her school uniform.

"Ayanami?"

"Yes?"

He smiled nervously. "Would you like to help?" Rei nodded in agreement.

Shinji pulled out some tofu from the refrigerator as well as some miso paste, and emptied out the tofu to a cutting board. "Ok. Let's start with miso soup." He took a knife from a holder and placed it on the cutting board, then he went looking for the pot he needed. Rei stood by him, studying him as he gathered everything.

After getting what he needed, he asked Rei to put water in the pot and then boil it. Then as the water was heating he carefully gave her instructions on how to prepare the rest, showing her what ingredients she needed and then asking her to put them together. He then demonstrated how to use the knife to cut the tofu, and gave Rei the knife. When it was her turn, she cut it exactly the way he demonstrated to her without making any mistakes to Shinji's approval.

"How were things with Asuka last night?" he asked her as they worked together.

"Things were fine. She talks a lot."

"I know it," he replied. "But she didn't give you any trouble, did she?"

"No."

"Good."

"Ikari-kun?"

"Yes?"

"When did you learn how to cook?"

Shinji smiled in embarrassment. "I learned when was living with Sensei. I didn't feel comfortable eating with them, so I just learned how to make things myself. I started with miso soup and then moved to bigger things."

"You taught yourself?"

"Yeah. It was really hard at first," he reminisced. "Auntie would get upset that I was wasting food when she could cook it herself. After a while I just worked at it to get it the way I wanted."

"But you didn't want to eat with your guardians?"

"Back then I just didn't feel like I had any connection with them," Shinji told her. "It was just easier to do it myself. Looking back on it I'm so glad I learned, otherwise there's no way I could survive with Misato."

"So you achieved a necessary result through no intention of your own."

"I guess so. Things just work out that way sometimes." Rei had completed chopping up everything so Shinji helped her place the ingredients into the now boiling pot. After stirring the pot a little, Shinji asked Rei to watch the pot and stir again occasionally, as he dug up bowls and chopsticks. "Um, how were things with Patrick during the trip?" he said, trying to make his curiosity sound casual.

"He has some interesting experiences."

"About when he lived in the mountains?"

"Yes. He told me many stories."

"I don't doubt it. He seems like a really nice guy."

"He's warm," Rei said.

Shinji decided to push it a little. "How do you feel about him?"

She was silent for a while, not answering him. Shinji didn't pursue it further and just set the table. Rei stirred the pot on Shinji's instruction and then when the soup finsihed he turned the stove off. He then took a ladle and tasted the soup and then gave the ladle to Rei. "Try it!"

She took the ladle and tasted the soup hesitantly. After a taste, she said. "It's good."

"You made that," Shinji responded, smiling at her. Rei smiled slightly back, but then quickly went serious again. Shinji went back to the table when she spoke to him again. "I'm not sure what I think of Forrestal-kun," Rei told him, "but I do not think I have to decide for a while."

"Whatever you decide on is fine with me," Shinji told her. "I'd just like you to be happy, that's all."

"I have no intentions of anything about him," she said. "Somehow I'm not sure it really matters if I do or not." They both sat down at the table with the soup and together started to drink it.

* * *

Rei was summoned a couple of hours later by Dr. Foch, who was the Alliance's top biologist and who had come to Tokyo-3 largely to study the First Child. Waiting for her outside the girls' suite, Agent Kikuchi escorted Rei first through the elevator on their floor, then a series of passageways, and then another, unmarked elevator that took them both on a long trip downwards towards Terminal Dogma. Neither one of them spoke a word to the other along the way.

The agent motioned for Rei to go to the Dummy Plug Plant, as it was still labeled, and she quietly complied. Walking the five minutes down a dimly lit passageway from the elevator to the "Plant," she entered the room and looked around. The scan tube, in which she had spent so much of her life was still in the middle, empty. The larger LCL tank against the back wall now covered with metal plating. Rei looked at the metal shields and wondered if the other destroyed clones of her body were still in the tank. The feeling that they might still be there floating around unnerved her inside.

"Ah, there you are!" Rei heard a voice to her right and turned to see Dr. Foch. A balding, overweight Frenchman with spectacles and a bushy mustache, Foch seemed quite active for someone who looked like they were pushing sixty years of age. "Sorry to give you such short notice, but I just got the scanner working again and needed to calibrate it." The scientist walked up to a control station and started working, barely looking at Rei as he spoke to her.

"This will only take a couple of hours. We'll do a lot more later, of course, but if you don't mind." Rei understood that he wanted her inside the scanner, and began to remove her clothing. In a minute she removed her uniform, gently folding them and placing them on a nearby chair. She then removed her bra and panties and stood there naked as Dr. Foch prepared the scanner. Foch didn't directly look at Rei as he set up the calibration, but did notice her out of the corner of her eye.

_Fascinating. Completely without inhibition she undresses right in front of me,_ he observed. _The question is: is it conditioning or innate with her? Understanding her will be a real challenge._

Foch looked directly at her, if only to gauge her reaction. Rei just stood there, her arms at her sides. He pointed at the scan tube. "You can go in now," he said and then turned back to the controls. Noticing that the scan tube was still in a "closed" position, he looked at the large amount of controls on the control panel and tried to find the one to open the tube. Moving to the other side of the panel, Rei quickly touched a series of buttons and the tube lifted slightly upwards, revealing a girl-sized hole on the side of it.

"Oh, of course. I should have just asked you. Anyway, Mademoiselle Ayanami, let us begin, yes?"

Saying nothing further Rei entered the tube and stood in the center as Foch found the switch to close and flood the tube with LCL. Orange-red liquid flowed from the bottom and gently lifted Rei upwards as she floated inside. As Foch began the calibration sequence, Rei closed her eyes and let her mind drift. While she never really liked being in the scan tube much she found she had missed the place, and safely inside the LCL of the tank she let her thoughts go through the previous three weeks of her life, her memories flooding her mind like the ocean tides flowing through a coral bank on the sands.

* * *

That day Patrick spent over twelve hours in the EVA, patrolling the outside perimeter of Tokyo-3 and searching for any signs of possible intrusions into the security zone around the city. During the lengthy period there were several security drills with the Alliance troops in preparation for an expected attack. Beyond that, however, the time spent in the EVA was nearly completely uneventful.

Twelve hours is a long time to spend in any task, and after the patrol run Patrick felt crampted, hungry, and tired. By 6:00 pm he let his mind drift to what he wanted to do after he got out of the EVA, and thoughts of another tea service tonight easily entered his mind.

Unit 04 moved into the EVA cages and Patrick hopped out of the entry plug after it ejecting from the Evangelion itself. Waiting for him at the platform was Mari, wearing her own school uniform of white blouse and plaid skirt. Her eye bandage was gone and now replaced by a simple black eye patch.

They two pilots chatted for a bit as they made their way down the giant steel platform towards the ready room for Patrick to shower and change, conversing along the way. Mari was still hobbling on her cast but to Patrick it seemed like she was moving along on it quite well now.

"Pats," Mari asked him, "I didn't get much chance to ask you before but how did your holiday go with your Angel girl?"

"It was great," he said, smiling a bit to himself. "We spent time on ship, went to an island and hung out, talked a lot. She seemed to enjoy it."  
"The First is so quiet, how could you tell she liked it?"

"She's a lot more relaxed than the others give her credit for. I think she was just glad to get out of Tokyo-3 for once."

"Well, did you get _anywhere_ with her," Mari pried.

Patrick laughed a little, "I can't say I got on base yet, but I don't think I struck out, either. She did let me hold her a little."

"That's sweet," she replied. "I think she's quite fond of you."

"It's really hard to tell with her, though. Sometimes I thought I was getting through and then sometimes it's like a wall. Still, with Rei," he sighed, "her mind is on so many things so deeply, I wonder if I'm just a curiosity to her, or anything else. How are you settling in?

"Still adjusting," said Mari. "I'll see how tonight goes. They've got me in one room with both First and Second Children."

"Oh, no," Patrick said cautiously.  
"I fully expect to be in the middle of the crossfire," she smirked. "Asuka's still smarting from me piloting Unit 02."

"To be honest I'd be a little miffed with my EVA having another pilot as well,"

"But your EVA DID have another pilot once, didn't it?" Patrick paused after hearing that.

_Erin._ "Of course," he said more quietly. "I guess it slipped my mind a little,"

"It's all right, I know _who's_ been on your mind lately," Mari replied. "You're going to see her again tonight."  
"Yes. I worked out what I needed before I left this morning."

"Good luck, then. By the way," she said to him, smiling broadly, "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course!"

Before Mari got to her question, walking towards them on the platform was Shinji, dressed in his blue and white plug suit, and Asuka, who had changed into a tank top and blue pleaded mini-skirt with red mary janes. They were in animated discussion, holding hands as they walked towards Unit 01.

"Hey, guys!" Patrick called out. They met each other in the middle of the platform.

"Hello," Shinji said. "How was it out there?"

"Aside from a bunch of defensive drills, not much going on. Everyone's still on edge for a possible attack, though."

"It's ok," he calmly replied. "Actually I don't mind being back in the EVA again. It's been a while!"

Mari then moved right in front of Shinji. "Hello, Puppy-kun!" she said smiling. Patrick could see Asuka narrowing her eyes at the other girl but Mari completely ignored her.

"Hello, Makinami-chan," Shinji replied a bit nervously.

Mari broadened her smile and moved just a bit closer to him. "Good luck out there in the EVA," she said to him. She was just close enough to him for Shinji to notice that her chest was almost touching him, certainly giving him a good view of her natural endowments. He squinted his eyes and rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. "Um, I'm sure I'll be OK,"

Asuka decided that Mari was just a little too friendly, and moved in between the two of them. "I'm sure he'll be OK, too," she said firmly, staring directly at Mari. "The First string team is back in play now. The second string goes back to the sidelines."

Not wanting to get into a scrap just yet, Mari just smiled back at Asuka. "Of course. See you back at the suite then. Bye, Puppy-kun!" She then made her way down the platform towards the ready room, with Patrick following along her.

After getting some distance between the two groups, Patrick spoke to Mari just before reaching the doorway. "So, anyway, what was your question?"

"I'll get with you later on it," she smiled back.

Shinji turned and watched her walk with Patrick along the rest of the platform and promptly got a not so gentle slap on this cheek. He turned back and saw Asuka, hands on her hips, angrily looking at him. "Don't get distracted," she said firmly, pointing her finger at him. "Pilot like that in the EVA and you won't come back!"

He sighed a little, half-way expecting her jealous reaction. "Don't worry," he told her. "I know what's important."

"Let me just remind you a little," Asuka said, still with an angry voice. She quickly grabbed both of his cheeks and landed a kiss right on his lips. Shinji closed his eyes and took it in, then yelped when Asuka suddenly whacked him in the buttocks. "Now get out there!" she yelled.


	8. Chapter 7: A,B, or C?

That night Mari joined both Rei and Asuka in the bedroom, making for a somewhat crowded floor with three futons. After Misato put them to bed and turned the lights out, Mari waited just a few moments before sitting up in her futon and gently pounding on Asuka's.

"Hey, trying to sleep here!" the redhead protested.

"You're not actually sleepy, are you?" Mari replied. "It's only 10 O'clock."

"It wasn't _my_ idea to go to bed early," Asuka said. "And it wasn't my idea to cram everyone in here either."

Mari completely ignored Asuka's complaining, pushing herself outside of her futon and crossing her legs. Like the night before, she was wearing pink pajamas with decorative bunnies printed on them. "So, anyway, what was it like?"

"What was _what_ like?" Asuka grumbled.

"Fighting the Angels. What was that like?"

"Better than being shoved into a single bedroom with two losers." Asuka cynically replied.

"Oh, don't be such a spoil sport," Mari playfully chided. She pounded on Rei's futon and the other girl's eyes flicked open. "How about you? What was it like, fighting the angels?"

Rei gently eased her way out of the futon. _Another night of talking_, she thought to herself. _How does everyone else actually get their allowed sleep time?_ "It was challenging," she replied. "They were quite implacable." She sat on top of her futon in her light blue pajamas, hugging her legs with her knees bent.

"Dangerous business it was, then?"

"We know it better than anyone," Asuka answered for Rei. "Sorry, you missed all the fun."

"Don't I know it," Mari said quite sincerely, "I was working for years in order to be a good pilot and I only get to see the ending act. Now we've got this war with SEELE business."

"Anyway, you didn't miss much. Count yourself lucky with the scratches you have," Asuka retorted.

"Right," replied Mari. "Well, anyway. Good night to both of you." She crawled back in her futon and was silent for a while again.

"So," Mari excitedly said a minute later, again crawling out of her futon. "Let's talk about boys, then!"

_AAAGH_, Asuka thought to herself. "You're kidding, right?"

"What's wrong with that? When I was at school girls would always talk about the boys they liked."

"Well then your school was weird, too," Asuka replied.

"Oh, you're no fun!" Mari pouted playfully. "OK, I'll show you mine if you show me yours!"  
"What!?" Asuka said in shock.

"I mean, I'll tell you about my self if you...divulge a little about you two."

This got Auska out of the futon. She wore a white babydoll nightgown with no pants and just panties. "What would I possibly want to know about you?"

"Just if we're going to work together we ought to get to know each other," Mari said.

"Look. You're just the second team, OK? You might be good, but don't flatter yourself."

"It was obvious you don't want to talk about piloting, so I thought to change the subject. So, you _don't_ like boys, then?"

"I didn't say that!"

"OK, so...A, B or C?"

Asuka was surprised by Mari's forwardness. "Not C! Who the _hell_ do you think I am?"

"Pats told me you were roommates with Puppy-kun, so I naturally assumed that..."  
"Why does everyone think that?!" Asuka protested. "Just because we lived in the same place doesn't mean we were married or anything!"

"But that might be a possibility one day, yes?"

The redhead was completely taken aback by Mari's boldness. "Geez, I just turned fifteen for crying out loud!"

"If you lived in feudal times, you'd have kids already," Mari observed.

"Would you _stop_ that?"

"It's true," Rei observed.

"I'm not that kind of girl!" Asuka retorted as she became more angry. "I'm very decent, you know!"

Mari was having fun with where the conversation was going. "And that's why you wear short skirts and striped panties!"

"That's just for fashion," Asuka countered. "Besides, you have to admit I've got a pretty good set of legs on," she said as she smoothly moved her hands down her calves. "Look but don't touch, know what I mean?"

"So has Puppy-kun touched them yet?

"Why the hell do you care?"

The British girl was persistent. "So, A,B or C?"

"Not C!"

"So it's B, then."

"It's not your business, you foreign fop!"  
"Smart words coming from the only German girl among us pilots."

Seeing that Mari was not going to give up, Asuka gave in, if only at the promise of ending the conversation and getting some sleep later. "OK. B."

"How many boys?"

_Oh geez._ "One...well, maybe two, but I don't think he counts. He's like my uncle or something."

"So we won't count Kaji-san then," Mari said, quickly analyzing Asuka's response much to her embarrassment, "and assume that it's our dear Puppy-kun that you're so attached to."

"So. What's it to you?"

"Is he good at least?"

_Oh, yes,_ Asuka thought to herself, _but I'm not going to tell you that_. "Lousy. Gets it all wrong."

"Oh," Mari sounded disappointed. "I'd thought he'd at least be better than that."

"Why don't you go try it with him sometime," Asuka retorted before realizing what she had just said. That remark got Rei's eyebrows up as well.

_Don't mind if I do_. "Well, maybe he just needs some practice."

Asuka felt as though chinks were popping off her armor. "Look, we work together so I go out with him mainly for the program's sake. Some days I swear that boy couldn't live without me! It's not like it's a big deal or anything." Mari took a quick glance at Rei's face when Asuka said that and her stony look told her all she needed to know. "Of course, I'm sure of it," said Mari, who then turned to Rei. "Your turn."

"What?" Rei said.

"A, B or C?" asked Rei, confused at the question.

"Well, come on?" Mari asked. "You seem like the outwardly quiet type that's always burning with passion underneath. What's the answer?"

"Miss Perfect over there doesn't know what you mean by that," said Asuka.

"Oh," Mari realized. "She doesn't _know_?"

"Ask her to explain phase-shift matter physics and she can go on forever. Ask her about guys and she's clueless."

Mari giggled a little at that. "I see. Rei," she explained. "A means 'holding hands,' B means 'kissing' and C means...well, you know."

"What?" Rei asked very innocently.

Mari looked at Asuka, who shrugged with a knowing look. "See, hopeless." Mari's smile broadened and she faced Rei again. "C means 'making love'."

"You mean sexual intercourse," Rei realized.

"Yes," Mari confirmed, having to suppress another giggle. Rei nodded and then softly said "A."

"How many boys, then?"

"Two."

Mari turned to Asuka. "See, she's not unreasonable about this." Facing Rei again she said, "I won't pry further for now but it's safe to assume that the two are Puppy-kun and Pats, yes?"

Rei was only slightly hesitant, her face blushing just a little. "Yes."

"Good." Mari nodded.

"Fine." scowled Asuka. "Your turn. A,B or C?"

"I'll never tell," Mari quipped with broad grin. Asuka met that remark with a violent pillow throw. "You started this!"

"I'm just kidding!" Mari said, catching the pillow and throwing it back. "With a nickname like 'Lusty' one does get a lot of comments, but it's B, and I won't say how many but more than one."

"Hmpth," Asuka grunted.

"See, that wasn't so painful, was it?"

"Like I care," Asuka retorted, putting herself back in the futon, as the night air was getting a little cold. Rei did the same. Everyone was quiet for a little while longer, until Mari, who hadn't gone back inside the blankets, started again. "So you think Puppy-kun thinks about you at night, then?" she asked Asuka.

"I don't want to know what Shinji thinks about at night," Asuka replied. "I can handle him to some extent, but it helps to just not go too far, know what I mean?"

"But maybe one day, he'll have his way with you..."

"What's _with_ you, anyway?!"

"I'm just having fun, that's all."

"I have a question." Rei declared.

"What is it, Angel Girl?"

"Do all girls always talk about this sort of thing when they sleep together?" Mari looked Asuka who then said "Don't look at me! I don't like having roommates."

"It's just friendly banter," Mari replied. "You're probably not used to that, either."

"I see," Rei replied. "Soryu-chan spent most of last night talking about Ikari-kun as well. Then she left to go to his bedroom."

That got Mari's undivided attention. "Oh, really!" Mari said and looked at the other pilot. "Do tell!" Rei was about to answer when Asuka shook her head and threw her pillow at Rei. Rei just sat there as the pillow bounced off her but Mari retaliated for her, bashing Asuka on the head before she could block it. Asuka quickly grabbed Mari's pillow while Mari grabbed another and they then both starting bashing each other over with them as Rei looked on. After a minute or two of scuffling there was a knock on the door and Misato then opened it.

"Would you girls mind?" Misato said. "It's just a little loud in there!" The younger girls stopped as Misato walked in, wearing a long-sleeved top with very short sleep shorts.

"Sorry to bother you, Misato-san," Mari said. "We're just comparing notes, that's all."

"About piloting or about boys?" Mari's eyebrows went up. "She's got good ears," she told Asuka.

"Either that or she bugged the room again," Asuka replied in a cynical tone. Misato ignored the comment and sat herself down with the three of them. "Well, that sounds like fun. I can't say anything for piloting but I can answer on the other question." Mari was about to continue the discussion when Asuka immediately stopped her, knowing full well what Misato might say. "DON'T EVEN GO THERE!"

The dreams had actually started the first night he returned from his cruise with the Alliance fleet. Patrick had hurried back to Tokyo-3 once the alert came out, and in the rush he hadn't noticed anything unusual while he was inside the EVA.

Once he returned to the GeoFront however, the dreams came. They weren't the nightmares that he had experienced through much of his childhood, but instead murky visions of being in another, unfamiliar place, and seeing that place through someone else's eyes.

When he had first experienced the visions Patrick had not even been a pilot yet, just a simple boy living in the mountains who had strange dreams of being in some sort of space capsule. But once the truth had become known to him, he realized that he had literally seen through the eyes of his own twin.

Back then he was still too new to the experiences to understand the full meaning, and what was real and what was not in the visions was not clear to him. Now in the night as his mind played back the visions and sensations of another's body, he knew the link between Erin and himself was formed again, and he tried as hard as he could to focus on what he saw.

The first images were blurry, like looking through water vapor, but he could see surroundings that reminded him of the GeoFront. Underground, perhaps, or on a ship of some sort. There were others there, speaking to her, but he couldn't make out words or recognize anyone familiar. The place felt cold, uninviting. Inside he grasped feelings of fear and anger.

Patrick pushed himself to peer through the fog but couldn't come up with anything. Then he saw the image a giant white Harpy, the Mass Production EVA, towering over him with teeth baring. His real nightmares had intruded into his vision. Startled, he woke up, panting heavily as the images were still fresh in his mind.

Previously he had not known what to do, and simply absorbed each vision as a dream or something else. Now knowing the truth he had worked out a way to deal with the experience. Shaking his head to clear his mind, Patrick shuffled out of the bed in his suite inside the GeoFront, and quickly grabbed a spiral notebook with a pencil clipped to the side. Taking out the pencil he turned on a nearby desk lamp and quickly started to write rough notes of everything he saw, trying to remember every detail he could. The one thing he had realized through the new series of visions was that Erin was conscious again and not in the comatose state that he had seen her before, in the only time in his life that he had ever seen or touched his sister. That meant there was hope that she was alive but also that she was held somewhere, and quite possibly in danger. That gave him a furious sense of urgency as he frantically wrote down notes in his notebook.


	9. Chapter 8: Secrets and Moves

In the commander's office, General Sheffield walked into the cavernous space that was previously the domain of Commander Ikari. Darkly lit and embellished with a giant Kabbalah diagram on the polished black obsidian floor, Sheffield walked over to the end of the room. The commander's desk was placed at the head of the _Systema_ _Sephiroticum_ diagram which Sheffield, acutely aware of the diagram's significance, knew to be at the position of God. _Truthfully,_ he thought to himself as he slowly walked over, _Ikari had ambitions that were grander than most men's wildest dreams. Ambitions that he almost achieved._

Fortunately the new commander of NERV was less concerned about such matters, but still had enough worry of his own. Admiral Vinson stood at the desk and spoke into a telephone as Sheffield arrived. The British general, a bandage still wrapped around his head, stood silently as his friend conversed on the phone. Noticing him as he walked in, Vinson continued his phone call.

"No, I don't want you here right now." The admiral listed with some impatience as the voice on the other end of the line pleaded their case to him. "It's not that," he replied, "but Tokyo-3 and the GeoFront are target #1 for these guys. You'll be safer out there. Also this place is a mess, we're just now securing the area so you might have to stay cooped up in the GeoFront here and I know how you'll hate that." Vinson again listened as the voice went on. "No, Maine isn't good either. They know who we are, if you go home you're just as likely to get hurt there. Please, just trust me on this one. Please." The voice was silent for a while, then said something else more quietly. "I'm sure," he replied. "And I'll let you know when it's all clear." After some more words, he said quietly, "I'm sorry for the mess." at that, the phone hung up. Vinson quietly put the receiver down.

"Maria?" Sheffield asked.

"Yes. She's ticked off," Vinson said. "I couldn't blame her. We spend years keeping her in the dark about EVA and all, and now she has to deal with all of this firsthand. At least she'll be safe where I've got her now." The admiral stood up more firmly, and moved to greet his friend with a handshake and a pat on the shoulder. "I'm glad you're here, actually, I need a hand getting this place under control."

"Not that we have much in the way of doing that now, " Sheffield said. "Do we have a plan for getting back on the initiative?"

"Colonel Katsuragi and I are meeting on that subject later," Vinson said. "She's got an idea on how to draw them out. At least we're making progress with the EVAs. Unit 02 will get its S2 engine installed tomorrow and if that goes well..."

"A big if, considering what happened to Unit 04."

"Dr. Viraat says he's figured it out. Anyway, if it's done we'll have two EVAs ready for outbound action, and another one and one-half for defense here. Plus I'm hoping for some good news from China from our friend Mr. Kaji." Vinson referred to EVA-06.

"Any luck with the MAGI?"

"No, and everyone's afraid to try at this point," said the new commander. "They let us operate within the GeoFront but not get into the memory archives."

"Have the Japanese staff been any help?"

"With most everything they're surprisingly cooperative but still wary, especially the new government. We're supposed to get some troops from the new Japanese army but that's not worked out yet. I do get the felling they're not telling us everything, of which I'm not really surprised. Speaking of which, how is our most important 'guest'?"

"Cooling it off at the new prison," Sheffield said. "Still nothing."

"I figured as much,"

"Correct. Wellington was getting frustrated dealing with the man, so she requested reassignment to Tokyo-3"

"Good. I could use the extra hand."

"There's one other thing."

"What's that?"

Sheffield didn't answer at first but walked to the large windows that made up the outside wall of the commander's office. There he could see the vast expanse of the GeoFront interior. It was still a mess from the battle, with large cracks in the reinforced sphere walls and much of the landscape and buildings in ruins, but lights were visible now all around as engineers worked into the night to continue repairs and reinforce the fortress.

"Just before the attack on Pine Gap I received a coded message. From Omega."

Vinson raised his eyebrows, and walked over to where his friend was standing. "Omega? He's still active?"

"Yes," Sheffield said. Omega had been the primarily source of the information about the truth of Second and Third Impact, Human Instrumentality, and all the other bad things that SEELE had planned for humanity. To nearly everyone else in the Alliance, Omega was said to be a deep-cover agent for either British or Israeli intelligence. Omega's real identity was a mystery but everything that he had informed the Alliance of had been completely accurate.

The general continued. "The message was that Omega had penetrated SEELE again, with an intention to bring the monster down."

Vinson actually became a bit excited at that news. "Tell him to give us the location, then!"

"Unfortunately that wasn't forthcoming. He indicated that he'd communicate again when everything would be ready."

Vinson looked out the window at the engineer's activity along with Sheffield, sighing deeply. "I don't like this. He's just manipulating events."

"Perhaps. But everything he's told us has been right so far."

"Too bad we never seem to be in a position to take advantage of it."

* * *

_SEEELE-2_

Piotr hurriedly walked down a corridor in the new underground base. While he had spent enough time in the service of SEELE in such places to practically transform from being human to being a mole, this last installation was to him the most haunted of them all. It was deeper underground then all of the others SEELE and their predecessors had possessed, yet parts of this new one were built to such grand scale to mimic ancient monuments reproduced in concrete and steel, and containing large murals written in a language he didn't even hope to understand. Sunlight fell on no parts of the place, but rather there were miles and miles of underground passageways in all directions. He could feel heat in some areas of the base, and understood there was an active volcano in the nearby mountain. _If hell had a makeover it might be like this place_, he thought.

He heard footsteps following him but at first he didn't turn around. Security guards were everywhere and given what had happened at what should have been Third Impact, the Chairman had become paranoid about security. Many that Piotr had worked with in Germany had not made the trip here, and what fate had befallen them he didn't want to think about. The important thing was that he had not been suspected even now: decades of playing the fool for his master had ensured that.

"Hello, Piotr," a voice called from behind him. The voice seemed familiar, but Piotr couldn't quite place it. He stopped moving and the voice stayed where it was as well. "Do you not remember my voice?"

The old man slowly turned around, shaking in nervousness, hoping that his wasn't some sort of trap set by security to catch traitors. "Yes?"

Standing ten feet behind him was a middle-aged man dressed in a security guard's uniform. He was Caucasian in appearance, with salt and pepper hair, and a bit muscular. The look in his eyes was as determined as he had ever seen in a man, other than the failed eyes of his own chairman.

"Hello, Piotr," he said again, "I know we've had contact over the years, but I'd thought you might recognize my voice at least." The man slowly walked over to him. Piotr raised his eyebrows in recognition, and in surprise.

"What are you DOING here?" he asked, looking around nervously to see if they were watched.

"Do not worry, this little corner doesn't have any cameras or microphones in range of us."

"Why are you here_, Viktor_?" Pitor asked again, this time more direct with the man. "I did as you bid me. They failed again. Isn't that enough?"

"I've come to end it, Pitor," the man said to him. "This time for good."

Pitor scoffed at him. "He is crazy now!" he motioned towards the unseen chairman in the background. "Worse than when you were here. You are stupid to come back. They will just catch you."

"No they won't," the man said confidently. "For I'm the last one they'd ever suspect." He stepped close to Piotr, his eyes warming up just a bit. "I can count on you, can't I?'

The older man was mournful but compliant, resigning himself to his own likely end. "If only for your sister's sake, and not for your own," he replied.

"Good enough," the man replied. He then turned away and started walking down another corridor. Pitor said nothing in return but just stood for a moment and watched him go. _If he is here it might end after all_, he thought.

* * *

_China_

NERV's Fifth Branch was located 500 kilometers from the Chinese megacity of New Shanghai. NERV's presence was important to fast-rising China, and after receiving NERV's initial contract in typical Chinese fashion the entire surrounding province was cleared out of its prior inhabitants and rebuilt as a high-technology manufacturing center from ground up, centered on the assembly of Evangelion units.

During the Angel War, Fifth Branch was initially allocated to construction of Evangelion Unit 06, which was intended as a military-type in the same family as Units 02, 03, 04 and 05. Like Unit 05, Unit 06 was behind schedule, and after the 14th Angel attacked Tokyo-3 the partially assembled Unit 06 was stripped for spare parts.

Now a month after the attempt at Third Impact, the Alliance was catching up the China branch . Making it clear to the Chinese government that the Alliance had taken responsibility for all NERV operations, they sent a team of their own specialists to enter Fifth Branch and take the remaining portion of Unit 06 back to Japan. The hope was that the Chinese would at least co-operate, as the Alliance wanted no more problems on its hands than it had presently.

One hour later after a subterranean train ride and walking through several passageways, the team was show the construction pen for Unit 06. Large signs were posted all along the way, in Chinese and English, attesting to various warnings about safety. The steel cage itself was nearly covered in such signs and status monitors, and Kaji noticed that one couldn't see much of what was inside the large cage from the outside.

"Here we are," Director Lin said as the last security gates were opened and they entered. Inside of the steel construction matrix was a large humanoid figure, forty meters tall. Unlike the completed Evangelion units that NERV operated, Unit 06 appeared as a mess of bone and tissue, mostly skeleton, with some binding plates and a helmet positioned on the head, looking like some warrior that was buried in some ancient tomb and unearthed a thousand years later.

"As you can see," Director Lin told the group, "after the orders to salvage parts from Unit 06, there wasn't much left to work with. We never received our last batch of funding from NERV, so construction halted at the pathetic state you see here."

"Oh, shit," Colonel Burke said. "This thing might as well be junked." As the others saw the remains of the unit, Kaji took a good look around both at the unit and the cage itself, carefully studying everything. After a few minutes he walked in front of an expecting Director Lin. "Director, can I ask you a question?"

"Of course!"

"Where is Unit 06?"

The director scoffed at Kaji. "This is it!" he told him, pointing at the giant humanoid in the center of the cage. "After your commander Ikari nearly destroyed his own units in combat the UN just scrapped this and then cut off our funding."

Kaji looked at the director again, now directly in the eyes. "I'm aware of what happened, but you haven't answered the question. Where is Unit 06?"

"We don't have the time for such games, Mr Kaji," he said. "I assure you this is all that there is."

Instead of arguing with the director Kaji instead reached inside of his coat pocket and pulled out a small computer tablet. Quickly paging though a set of images, he showed one to the director.

"No. _This_ is Unit 06." the image on the tablet showed a nearly completed Evangelion, coated in black and blue markings.

"I told you earlier," the director protested, "We were 80% complete when spare parts were requisitioned by NERV and we had to strip it down. This," he pointed to the skeleton in the steel structure, "is all we have left."

"By our own findings, the amount of spare parts requisitioned amounted to less than 8 percent of the total Evangelion's assembly. These were largely parts that your facility also manufactured for the Mass Production series."

"You're quite incorrect," the Director said. "That photo is not even real, it's just a CG design image. We were never that complete in our assembly."

"Also wrong," Kaji told him. "Because I took that photo myself three months ago when I came to your facility."

"You never came here!" the director told him forcefully.

"You mean, I was never _invited_ here, " Kaji corrected. "I, however, invited myself. I was in this cage at the time I came here and took this, and several other photos." Director Lin did finally start to become nervous when Kaji showed him the additional photos, all take secretly by him while assigned to the job by Commander Ikari earlier. All of the photos taken from several angles, showed a nearly complete EVA unit. "As I'm sure you're aware, your EVA was well over 80% complete when these photos were taken."

Realizing that Kaji had penetrated what he thought was his impregnable operation, the director came to fear what else Mr. Kaji might also have learned. For his part, Kaji knew he had gotten the upper hand in the discussion.

"Director Lin," he said calmly. "You should know something about my new employers in the Alliance. They are quite serious about the security of the Evangelions, perhaps even more so than those who previously controlled NERV."

"The Alliance is nothing but a bunch of has-been empires," the director argued back.

Now Colonel Burke, who so far had stood back and let Kaji talk, stepped in the discussion. "Mr. Lin," he said in a grave voice, "We're not the UN. We play by our own rules: we're either your best friend," he said, firmly patting him on his shoulder, "or your worst enemy. And right now," Burke said with a toothy smile, "things aren't looking so good for you."

Lin looked at Kaji, who smiled and said "I do suggest you co-operate, Director Lin. The Alliance doesn't feel bound by the UN rules of engagement for warfare, and if they ever felt your rogue operation was a threat to them they would probably think nothing of dropping a couple of N2 warheads on your base."

The Chinese man looked at Colonel Burke, who folded his muscular arms and gave him a toothy smile.

He turned back to Kaji."You wouldn't dare! Any such attack would be taken as a provocation against all of China. There would be untold consequences against the Alliance and its nations!"

"Nothing that couldn't be handled by four _fully-operational_ Evangelion units," Kaji replied calmly. "On the other hand, co-operate fully and we can ignore what's happened in the past and even allow you to keep whatever technology benefits you've managed to copy from the program." The director, now very nervous, looked at the soldier again.

"Sounds like a deal to me," Burke told him, this time without a smile.

Director Lin took out a handkerchief and padded his sweaty forehead. "I need security, my family will be a target."

"It can be arranged, and quickly," Kaji said calmly.

"They came the day after the attack on Tokyo-3," Lin told him. "We were warned not to tell you, so we replaced the EVA with this old prototype."

"Where did they take it?" Kaji asked.

"We don't know," the director said. "It was lifted by air, outside the country. That's all I know, I swear!"

The two men looked at each other, and then at the nervous director, both sighing. It was the answer they had feared.


	10. Chapter 9: Activation

_Matsushiro, Japan_

Landing at a small airfield next to the abandoned base, Misato got out of the Thunderbolt VSTOL aircraft and walked on the tarmac. Taking a good look around in the dawn light she saw that not much had changed since the last time she was here. There was still a giant crater inside of the mountain complex that NERV had used for testing Evangelions, and where the activation of Unit 03 had gone horribly wrong.

Following her out of the aircraft was Asuka. Like Misato she wore a pilot's olive colored jumpsuit with helmet. As their pilot tended to their aircraft, Asuka took off her helmet and aired her long hair out. In the distance they could both see engineers, mostly from NERV, start to bring Unit 02 to an upright position using cranes they had transported by rail for the occasion.

"Why are we doing this _here_?" Asuka asked.

"It's over 200 kilometers from Tokyo-3, so we have any problems with the activation it's still a safe distance from the base. The S2 Sea of Dirac event with Unit 04 was at a range of 90 kilometers."

"Isn't the Japanese capital at Tokyo-2 within 90 kilometers from here?"

Misato looked at Asuka. "I won't tell them we're here if you won't."

As the technicians used cranes to pull Unit 02 from the giant train car it was transported in, the new NERV scientific director Dr. Raj Viraat quickly paced around the giant Evangelion, checking on whatever he saw was out-of-place and correcting it with staff.

"Be easy with it!" he warned one crane operator. "Just because we're in a rush doesn't give you an excuse to be sloppy!" A crackle was heard on his radio and he picked it up. "Yes, Colonel. We'll be set up in a few hours. The commander was very clear that we're to conduct the test immediately. Tell your pilot to get ready and we'll let you know when she's ready to board."

Viraat, diminutive in size but large in spirit, frenetically pointed out to another crane operator how to handle the package he was lifting. "Watch that, you fool! Do you want to send us all to another dimension?" The operator had a panicked look at first then very carefully moved the crane carrying the S2 engine itself forward towards the test platform.

A few hours later Viraat signaled to the others that Unit 02 was in position and ready to receive both pilot and engine. The overworked NERV engineering staff was moving as quickly as they could, partly as they were under threat of attack by being so exposed, and partly as NERV had neglected to mention to the new Japanese government the nature of the test they were conducting.

* * *

The test in question was the installation of an S2, or Super Solenoid, engine inside of Evangelion Unit 02. Two other EVAs in NERV's employ had such engines: Unit 01, who had literally ingested the S2 organ out of the 14th Angel, and Unit 04, who had another Angel-derived S2 installed and then on activation formed a black hole around itself, converting nearly everything within 89 kilometers into energy. Unit 04 and its pilot eventually reappeared none the worse for wear, but NERV was very concerned about a possible repeat of that instance.

The benefits of the S2 engine for the EVA, with its perpetual energy source and ability to regenerate damage nearly instantaneously, outweighed the risks. The S2 engine in this instance wasn't from an Angel however, but from another Evangelion. When the Mass Production series were defeated in their attack on Tokyo-3, Dr. Viraat quickly ordered that their deactivated bodies be kept frozen until they could be disassembled by him and the other NERV engineers. Viraat had found that several of the "dead" units still had operational synthetic S2 engines, and he had chosen two of them to become the new powerplants for NERV's existing EVAs.

Because of the immediate threat of an attack, the installation of the S2 in Unit 02 was being rushed. The Matsushiro site was chosen because of its still-operational MAGI system, which could provide essential support of the complex operation. The rest of the base was mostly a ruin, destroyed in the re-activation of Unit 03 some months earlier.

As a safety precaution during the actual test, NERV's remaining EVAs were to be deployed out of the possible danger zone of the installation. Unit 01, with Shinji inside, was kept airborne above Japan. It would be out of the 89 kilometer test range of Unit 02, but could also be dropped quickly if needed for any reason (including to defend the test site). Unit 05 was still under repair and so remained at the GeoFront but EVA-04 was deployed above the fortress, which at over 200 kilometers from Matsushiro was considered safe. As an extra safety precaution Rei Ayanami was placed inside EVA-04's entry plug, along with its pilot.

* * *

_Tokyo-3_

Rei sat on Patrick's lap as they both rested in Unit 04's entry plug. The Evangelion had remained largely motionless for the last few hours as it faced west and towards Nagano and Matsushiro. As most of NERV concentrated on Unit 02's activation test there was little other activity and the two pilots relaxed as much as they could. They said nothing to each other for a couple of hours until Patrick broke the silence.

"How is it going with your new roommates?" he asked Rei.

"It's OK," she replied. "I don't mind sleeping in the same room as them."

"So no arguments, or anything like that?"

"No, but they talk a lot at night."

"Oh, really? What about?"

"Much of the subject matter is about relations with boys."

Patrick chuckled a little. "Did you find out anything interesting about either of them?"

"The Second feels very connected to Ikari-kun, although she tries to hide it. Makanami-chan is attracted to him as well." Patrick raised his eyebrows in surprise at that. "So you all talk about Shinji at night?"

"He is not the only subject. They will talk to each other about other boys they have encountered."

"Do they ask you about this as well?"  
"Yes," Rei said. "I told them 'A'"

"A?" Patrick asked.

"A,B or C," Rei explained. "It is a code to signify progress in affection towards boys." Patrick thought for a moment and then realized how it worked. "Oh, I get it. We do it a little different in America. There it's like baseball."

Rei gave Patrick a curious expression, tilting her head slightly. _"Baseball?"_

"That's right. You hit the ball and run the bases, Each base tells how far you got. First, Second, Third or a Home Run. That's, uh, if you go all the way, if you know my meaning." Rei nodded, this time in understanding.

"Anyway, I think A would be the same as getting to First Base."Did the others get anywhere else?"

"They both said 'B'. Later Misato-san joined in the discussion and Asuka would not let her answer the question."

"I think that's a smart move," Patrick said with a smirk. "Besides boys, did you girls talk about anything else?"

"They talk about clothes," Rei answered. "They review their wardrobe choices in incredible detail, especially regarding shoes."

Patrick rested his chin on his hand, interested in Rei's reactions. "Did you learn anything?"  
"Apparently you're not supposed to wear the same outfit exactly the same way twice," said Rei with a bewildered look on her face. "There's also something about how your 'colors' are coordinated but there's no specific guidance or pattern."

"That's all girls' stuff," the boy mused. "But I guess that's not something that you'd just learn out of a book."

"Incorrect. They both continually read magazines that contain trivial information about clothes, makeup, and diet. I didn't realize it took that much study." She looked up at Patrick. "Do boys do this sort of thing?"

"No," Patrick replied, "Although there is a sort of thing about looking 'cool.'"

"_Cool_?"

"'Cool' is like the boy version of 'cute,' he tried to explain. "It's not based on study but you compare yourself to others and try to find a way to dress and act differently but not _too_ differently or too awkward." Patrick tried to explain further but he could tell from Rei's now very puzzled explanation that it would get absolutely nowhere.

"Or you could just wear your school uniform every day," he told her.

"At least it's simpler that way," she concluded.

She sat silently for a while with no particular expression, but Patrick just looked at her. _Oh, you are so cute sometimes, very irresistible. _He smiled at her, she glanced at him curiously and then went back into pondering how other girls could be so complicated.

_I think it's time to go to bat again._ "Rei?"

"Yes?" she looked up again at him.

"Um, before she left for Mastushiro I spoke with Misato. She said they've secured Hakone City now. Anyway, I was thinking. Misato said we could go there. We'd have, like, lots of bodyguards and stuff like on the island but would you like to maybe have tea there?"

"Tea?" she asked.

"You know, go to a café and drink tea, have something to eat?"

"I'll go if it's necessary," she said.

Patrick took a deep breath. "It's not necessary," he said, "but it would be nice if I could take you there. Again."

"OK," she said softly. The boy looked at her more seriously now. "Rei?"

"Yes?"

More than a little nervous, he gulped hard. "Would you go out with me?"

"To Hakone?"

"On a date."

She was reserved. _I should have expected this_, she thought to herself. "It's OK," she answered him with a soft voice. "I will do it."

Silent relief poured all over Patrick. "Great. Thanks." He smiled at her again but she still didn't return the smile , and instead gazed at the video images of the outside of the entry plug. Initially elated, Patrick was now at a loss as she didn't seem all that happy to accept his offer.

"Um, I'll work out the details and let you know when," he told her, smiling nervously. Rei said nothing but just nodded without even facing him. The boy was about to say something else when a message came over the speakers that the S2 installation was about to begin, and with that both of them straightened up in the throne seat and focused on the monitors in the entry plug.

* * *

In Central Dogma, the main video display came on and showed Unit 02 standing up in the outdoor test area at Matsushiro. Cables were attached to it to monitor the unit, as well as an axillary power coupling. The S2 engine had already been installed inside the unit, and various displays on secondary monitors showed Unit 02's status.

Admiral Vinson stood on the command platform, along with General Sheffield. Controller Aoba received a communication from the test site and changed the video image. The main display now showed the inside of the mobile NERV command vehicle at the test site, where Misato, Hyuga, and Dr. Viraat were visible.

"The Synthetic S2 has been installed inside the unit," Dr. Viraat reported. "You both should know that I strenuously object to the impossibly short schedule you've kept us to."

"Not our idea," Vinson replied, "Right now we're very vulnerable to attack by the other side. The faster we can upgrade our units the better."

"You do realize that there's a better than 25 percent chance that we'll get a repeat of the Sea of Dirac that happened to Unit 04, should something go wrong, and another 25 percent of ripping a complete dimensional hole. You military types never take the time to appreciate the engineering challenges on something at this scale, you just want the biggest weapon system you can lay your hands on."

Vinson looked at Sheffield with a smile. "Does he always carp like that?"

"Somehow I think he tries to lower expectations," the British general replied. "If he's giving you 50% chance verbally my experience is that he's quite confident of success."

"Fine," the new NERV commander agreed. Vinson then spoke to the main screen. "Colonel Katsuragi?"

Misato stood at attention, her serious face now on. "Yes, sir."

"Is your pilot ready?"

"Her entry plug is already loaded inside. Once the status board is green we'll give the go-ahead."

"Very well. As soon as you're ready, begin the test. We'll monitor you from here if there's any trouble."

"Thank you, sir." She switched off the camera and then turned to another video monitor in the mobile command post. "Asuka? We're almost ready to go. Are you ready?"

The video image on the screen showed Asuka sitting on the control throne. In place of her normal plugsuit she was wearing a special test version, with enlarged A10 nerve controllers attached to her hair and a semi-transparent orange mesh midsection over a mostly red bodysuit. "Would you please not put me on video? It's embarrassing wearing this thing!"

"Sorry," Misato said, but without switching off the video just yet. "The test plugsuit has better biofeedback that the combat version. We need it to check your reactions once the S2 is activated."

"At least cover up things a little on this! The bra is too tight and you can see my butt crack through the back end!" Asuka looked at the video display in her own plug and noticed that controller Hyuga was smirking at the screen in the background. "Hey!" she shouted at him. "Would you stop staring at me? I'm practically a child, you pervert!" A startled Hyuga quickly turned away and tried to focus on his own display.

"All right, all right," Misato said, shutting off the video monitor. "Next time we'll just use the regular suit. Are you ready now?"  
"Sure, fine, whatever. Just get this the hell over with!"

"Colonel Katsuragi," Viraat instructed Misato. "Please be sure that the pilot maintains especially good emotional balance during the test. Based on the American boy's experience I want to be sure the EVA doesn't have any overreaction to the pilot's condition."

"Did you hear that, Asuka?" Misato asked. "Please try to have a good mood here, it's critical for the test."

The pilot was having nothing of it. "When am I going to get my own room?" she demanded. "It's crowded living with those two brats. Also, when are you going to let us out of the GeoFront?"

"Hakone City just got secured, we can all go there after we're done today. OK?"

"Better than just hanging out here!"

Misato saw the worried look on Dr. Viraat's face and knew he was quite serious about the pilot's emotional state. She opened up a second video channel to Shinji, who was currently in the entry plug of EVA 01, flying 50,000 feet above the Kanto region of Japan.

"Shinji, did you catch all of that?" she asked him.

"Yeah, I heard it."

"Do you think that you can calm her down a bit? It's kind of important."

"I'll try," he replied. Shinji then opened up an audio-only channel to EVA-02. "Um, Asuka?"

"What?!" she shot back.

"What do you want to play at the arcade when we're done?" he asked innocently. The girl's mode switched instantly. "Oh. I saw that Super Mecha War 3 was out last month. I gotta try that one."

Shinji encouraged the train of thought a little more. "What about Double Dance Mix Pro?"

"Pro?" she asked. "You can't even manage on the regular version!"

"I don't know, I kept up with you pretty good on that machine in Germany."

"Well that doesn't count, I mean, we had just got there and I was a little off my game."

"You have to admit I'm getting better at keeping up with you," he said nonchalantly.

"Only because I'm still getting over being in the hospital last month," she excused herself. "Once I'm fully back to speed then we'll see who's the Queen!"

Shinji smiled to himself, as he changed the topic just so lightly. "That's true. I liked that café outside of the arcade we went to in Berlin."

"Oh yes!" Asuka reminisced. "They had the best tiramisu! And the chocolate fondue was crazy good! I must have gained about two kilos in there!"

Having her fully on the hook, Shinji led her on just a bit more. "And do you remember the river?"

Asuka thought for a moment, letting out a deep sigh. "Oh, yeah," she said, her voice now more soft. "That was nice."

"I liked that dress you wore."

"I knew you would. I lost the yellow one in the apartment, but I thought you'd like pink."

"You looked pretty," he complemented. "When we floated down the river on that boat, you know, past the bridge."

"_Baka_ Shinji!" said Asuka. "Don't _tell_ everyone!"

"It's OK, this is a private audio," he replied. "At least you didn't plug my nose that time!"

Asuka thought to respond but then just giggled a little. "You were a bit better that time. Did you practice on someone else while I was out of it!"

"No, no, no!" Shini replied.

"You didn't even try to put one on me when I was unconscious."

"I thought about it," he said, quite honestly.

"Why didn't you then?"

He lied. "They had nurses in all the time, it would look weird if I was doing that!"

"So you never read _Sleeping Beauty_, then?"

The boy changed the subject. "So where are we going next time?"

"Next time? Oh, Black Forest. You have to go, it's so pretty there!..."

Of course, the audio channel wasn't actually all that private, as Misato stood in the mobile command post with a headseat to her ear, listening in on the entire conversation between the two. _Shinji, you little devil!_ She thought to herself. She quietly turned to Hyuga and said in a whisper. "How is the pilot's emotional state now?"

Hyuga whispered back. "Nominal. Ego and Anti-ego ratings are at optimal levels." Misato looked at the vertically challenged Indian scientist. "She's as good as we can get her. Can you do it now?" The man nodded and quickly flipped two switches on his display.

"I'll start the countdown,"Hyuga said.

"No. we just do it now," the scientist countered, and without anything further he hit one more switch.

As the pilots continued with their own little conversation, everyone else both in the mobile command post and in Central Dogma held their breath. Misato watched the display in the command post as the timer counted past zero. Earlier as they prepared the test, Viraat told everyone else that once the S2 was activated it would take sixty seconds for it to fully come on-line and sync with the EVA. After sixty seconds had passed, the EVA should fully adapt to the new power source, assuming everything went according to plan.

The colonel kept one hear to the headset as Shinji continued to keep Asuka distracted with pleasant conversation as she watched the timer. Once it hit "60" she released her breath, as everyone in the command post smiled in relief. She opened up an audio channel to EVA-02.

"...So anyway, I cannot wait to get my own room. Do you know how difficult that Mari girl is?"

"Asuka?" Misato called in.  
"What?"

"Look at your power timer," Misato said calmly. The pilot turned over her left shoulder and saw the display. Instead of the usual numerical display, the timer now showed an "infinity" symbol where the clock normally was. Right below it the display read "S2 SUPER SOLENOID POWER NOMINAL." She raised her eyes in surprise. "You conducted the test already?!"

"Well," Misato told her, "you were so busy chatting that we decided not to bother you and just went ahead on our own."

"Fine. Now that we're done can we go back now?"

"Not yet. We still need to conduct a few more tests, and then we'll go back tonight."

"Tonight?! The arcade downtown closes at six!"

"Sorry, you'll just have to go another day."

"Screw that!" Asuka said. A moment later all of the cables tied to EVA-02 were ejected.

"Asuka!" Misato shouted on the audio. "What are you doing?!"

"I've spent days being cooped up and not being able to go outside, and now you stick me in this peek-a-boo plug suit and have me just sit in here all day doing nothing. If it works, it works. Conduct your own tests, I'm getting out of here!" Asuka switched audio channels. "Hey, Baka!"

"Yeah?" Shinji asked.

"Race you home!"

Shinji paused for a moment, as Misato's face appeared on another video screen in the plug display. She had the look of frustration on her face, but also knew Asuka needed the chance to blow out the pressure. Misato nodded at Shinji, whispering "just keep her out of trouble, OK?" He nodded back and then closed the channel.

"OK!" he said. "EVA-01 launching now!"

In another moment EVA-01 rolled out of the back of the giant aircraft, somersaulting as it went out high in the air. After dropping a few thousand meters Shinji opened the parachute that mounted to Unit 01's back and then gently drifted downward towards central Japan. On his video monitor he could see below him and spotted the red figure of EVA-02 moving not so slowly east towards Mount Fuji, Lake Ashii, Hakone, and home.

For her part, once clear of the test center Asuka was ecstatic, jumping over mountains and running through valleys at top speed in the red giant. No more power cable meant freedom for her and the EVA, freedom without limits. _This is what an Evangelion should be like,_ she thought.

_Mama_, _we're free now_.

Looking up at the sky she saw the purple figure of Unit 01 floating down to where she was. Asuka stopped Unit 02 and waited for EVA-01 to plop down inside of a small lake. The purple EVA made a large splash in the remote lake, and then quickly ejected the parachute harness.

"Took you long enough!" Asuka said to him.

"Misato said you're OK to go, but just don't cause too much damage!" he chided.

"Hmpth!" she replied. Then she cracked her knuckles and grabbed the actuators on her control throne. "Beat you there!" she told him and without waiting for a reply started to run her unit further south.

Shinji allowed himself a small smile. _It's because of things like this that I love you._ He then put Unit 01 in motion and started chasing after her eastward.


	11. Chapter 10: First Strike

_Tokyo-3_

The following day was intensively busy as NERV made preparations to transport both Units 01 and 02 outside Japan to a secret staging point. Unit 04 was tasked with the responsibility for defending the GeoFront, with the still-under repair Unit 05 working as a backup. As more of the Alliance's military assets arrived at the GeoFront, the defense network around the base and what remained of Tokyo-3 was being supplemented with more radars, monitoring posts and hastily set-up missile and gun emplacements. Fortunately the reinforcements of soldiers and equipment allowed NERV to put EVA-04 on a "standby alert" basis and not on constant patrol, which meant Patrick could spend less time in the field and more on resting up and preparing for the upcoming battle.

Misato herself was rushing back and forth between managing the pilots' preparations and all the other operational details of her plan to trap SEELE's EVAs. For her operation to come off successfully, complete secrecy was in order and the actual destination of both Evangelion units and their pilots was not divulged to nearly anyone. Thankfully Misato knew someone who was an expert in arranging such matters.

"So, how do we stand?" she asked Kaji on the satellite phone.

"The staging base is mostly complete," he replied. "Colonel Burke has his own team here and has already secured the location. They're preparing the airfield now. Katsuragi, are you sure this will work?"

"Do you doubt a woman's intuition?" Misato replied in mock surprise.

"I never doubt your own, but I wonder if they'll take the bait."

"Considering that they're trying to smash every big military target they see, I don't think SEELE can avoid missing what I'm going to throw in front of them."

"I would agree with that, but I'm concerned that we're leaving the GeoFront too exposed."

"Dr. Viraat's got something worked out with getting Unit 05 up to speed faster," Misato explained. "It's risky but if we pull this off we can eliminate the remaining Harpy threat and focus on getting at their base." She paused for a moment to see if anyone around her was listening in, and then spoke into the satellite phone in hushed tones. "Anything on Unit 06?"

"No. A stealth aircraft picked it up right after the attack on Tokyo-3 and left no sign of a destination. I did access Chinese air defense records and they were unable to track it themselves."

"So even if we clear off these two Harpies we have that one to worry about."

"As we haven't seen it yet it's possible it's being used in defending SEELE's hidden base," Kaji surmised, "assuming they've been able to make it functional."

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it," resolved Misato. "If we can get four EVAs actually in the field the odds are a lot better. Anyway, I'll see you there tonight." Then still at a whisper she teased Kaji. "I got something for you!"

"Like what?"

"It's black and made of lace!"

She could practically hear Kaji's smile over the line. "I see I have more undercover work ahead of me." Something in the background distracted momentarily and then he spoke again. "I need to see to something, I'll see you when you get here. Ciao!" and the line cut off. Misato smirked to herself and went about the remainder of her preparations.

* * *

After packing a small suitcase to take him on the deployment, Shinji walked across the floor of the section where the pilot suites were located and over to the girls' suite. Ringing the doorbell, Shinji waited until someone opened the door. That someone was Mari.

"Hello, Puppy-kun!" she said cheerfully. Mari wore a t-shirt and jeans, while Shinji wore a blue and green camoflague uniform that looked about three sizes too big. "I see they've finally made a soldier out of you!"

"Um, yeah," Shinji said in embarrassment. "This was the smallest uniform they had. It's only because we're supposed to be on a secret deployment so they don't want us to look different from the others. Is Ayanami here?"

"She's in our bedroom," Mari replied and allowed him to come in.

Dropping his duffel bag on the floor, Shinji quietly walked over to the pilots' bedroom and saw the door opened half-way. He gently pushed it open and found Rei standing next to the dresser, seemingly lost in thought. She wore her old school uniform, barefoot on the room's carpet.

"Ayanami," he said. She turned to face him. "Ikari-kun."

"I just wanted to say goodby to you before we go. We'll be leaving really soon." Rei didn't say anything but just nodded. Shinji walked over to where she was standing. "We're only gone for a few days. Hopefully everything will go okay."

"Are you worried?" Rei asked him.

Shinji couldn't hide the expression on his face. "Yeah, it's my first real time back out in the EVA. At least it's not an Angel but it's scary enough."

"As long as the two of you are in sync together you should do well."

"I hope so. Anyway, you'll be all right by yourself?"

Rei nodded gently, but to Shinji she didn't look happy either. _Will she let me do it now?_ Shinji wondered. Without saying anything further Shinji leaned forward and gently put his arms around her, holding her tightly against him. To his relief Rei didn't push away, but instead let her be quietly held by him for the next few moments. He kept holding her until they heard the sounds of others entering the suite.

"They're here. I'd better go."

"Take care," Rei said with some sadness in her soft voice.

Shinji turned to go when Rei said something further to him.

"Forrestal-kun has asked me to go on a date with him."

The boy smiled a little at her. "You should go, then."

"I've accepted, but..." she paused for a moment. Shinji could sense some conflict within Rei, if that's what it was. He took a couple of steps towards her. "He's a nice guy, really," he said. "Besides, it's just one date, right?"

"I know," she replied.

"Maybe the others didn't tell you this, but if you're really not comfortable you can always change your mind."

"But I've already told him yes."

"Girls change their mind all of the time," he told her. "Asuka does it about a dozen times a day. Anyway, just do what you feel you need to. It's fine."

Rei considered what he said. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it. I guess it can be difficult to learn how to be a girl sometimes, I mean if no one taught you this before."

"I understand it."

"Anyway, I'll be back soon, okay?" Shinji smiled at her, but Rei didn't smile back.

After he left the bedroom, Rei looked down on the top of the dresser that all three girls currently shared. On top was a black portable case. She unzipped the case and reached inside, seeing the syringe of LCL stabilizer. It was the ultimate symbol to her of her inhumanity, that in the end she was not like the others and never would be.

_I must tell him._

Shinji stepped out of the girl's bedroom and saw Misato and Asuka. Both were wearing camouflage uniforms like his. "Ready to go?" Misato asked.

"Yes," Shinji said, putting his best face forward.

"Where are you all headed out to?" Mari asked.

"That's a secret, I'm afraid. We need to keep this as confidential as we can for my plan to work. Don't worry, we're back in a few days." Misato turned to Asuka. "Are you packed?"

"Of course," she said, motioning to a set of several duffel bags piled against the wall.  
Misato frowned. "Asuka, it's a military deployment, not a vacation."

"Well," she said smugly, "I just want to be prepared for everything."

The officer sighed, then turned to Mari. "You'll be good without us?"

Mari motioned to the cast on her leg. "I get this off in a few days, and the eye's looking better. Just as long as my EVA gets her arms back on too, we'll be fine."

"Good. We'll see you soon." To Asuka and Shinji she ordered "Let's go, kids!"

Asuka looked narrowly at Shinji, "Get my bags, will you?" The boy rolled his eyes a little and then went to the wall to get the duffel bags for Asuka. Coming back with the bags Asuka grabbed the smallest one for herself, letting him carry the other two along with this own.

Just before they left, Mari told the others "Good hunting, everyone!" Then she stood right in front of Shijji. "Please be careful, Puppy-kun!" Before he could react the taller girl quickly embraced him, shoving his head between her breasts.

Asuka's face went red in anger as Misato worked to suppress a giggle at Mari's affectionate send-off. The redhead quickly pulled away the hapless Shinji from Mari's bounty. "_We_ will!"

* * *

Several hours later, Commander Vinson stood on the operations deck in Central Dogma, observing the giant holographic display in front of them. On the display were several arrows and other graphics indicating the movement of Alliance forces and suspected enemy formations. Standing next to him was Sheffield. They both quietly observed the screen as several units changed position.

"Let's hope this works," Sheffield told him. "We're taking a big risk by leaving Tokyo-3 exposed like this."

"I'm tired of getting nibbled at," Vinson replied. "It's about time we showed these SOBs who's the new boss around town." Vinson turned to the controllers. "Status on units?"

Hyuga turned around and reported. "Unit 01 and 02 are in motion with the fleet," he said. "Unit 04 is on standby alert within the GeoFront, and Unit 05 is on secondary alert."

"How about the Japanese?" Vinson asked.

There was a pause and then Aoba was the one to reply. "Japanese Navy reports fleet is in position, troops are embarked and moving towards target area."

Sheffield raised an eyebrow. "The Japanese government is on board with this?"

Vinson shrugged. "Well, our dear Mr. Kaji gave them a generous offer on technology-sharing before he left for China. It seems the potential to line their pockets with the future profits of biotechnology derived from the EVA program overrode any fears they had about another attack on the home islands."

"Just as long as we can provide them a sufficient defense," the British general mused.

"No one said this was going to be easy," Vinson responded. The commander punched his palm with his other hand. "Excellent. Look sharp, everyone! If they're going to try and hit us, they'll give it everything they've got. Be ready for it!"

* * *

_Vladivostok, Far Eastern Russia_

At dawn they struck, and they struck hard. Over one hundred Alliance warplanes and just as many armed drones flew low towards Russia's far eastern capital and released a hellstorm of iron and fire. Pillars of fire and masses of smoke trails spat from the ground against the eastern sunrise as dozens of Alliance fighters and bombers found their targets on the ground. As buildings and fuel bunkers burned and UN troops rushed to man defenses, the Alliance kept up an intense level of firepower on the city and also the adjoining peninsula. It was only the first act however, the preparation for what was about to come.

As aircraft soared overhead the _Liberator_ and the rest of the Alliance fleet disgorged their troops, with dozens of helicopters and amphibious landers headed towards the beaches on the peninsula. To the fleet's right, joining the attack was the Japanese Navy (the new government had dropped the title "Maritime Self-Defense Force") which also launched their own assault craft and helicopters towards the target. Continuing to watch the battle from the conning tower, Admiral Gato noticed the position of two large amphibious docks that were moving towards the beach along with the rest of the assault force of over ten thousand men. When the dock landing ships were almost in place Gato reached into his pocket and got his satellite radio.

"HUNTER, this is NEPTUNE. You're almost in position."

A young Japanese woman's confident voice came over the speaker. "Roger. Launching Units 01 and 02 now!"

Gato looked out the windows and saw two large bodies slowly disembark from the landing ships close to shore. When they were fully erected, each stood over forty meters tall and looked strangely menacing. One colored purple, one colored red, they moved slowly like demons come from the netherworld, their large frames moving steadily towards the beach.

* * *

Standing in an observation bunker far from the other side of the beach, a UN commander looked through his own set of electrobinoculars at the escalating threat that was emerging on his shoreline. Seeing the image of the two Evangelions moving among the Alliance troops as they fought their way through the defensive lines at the shore set his heart racing. _My God they've got balls_, he thought to himself. _First they land where our troop strength is highest at the capital, and now they roll out their secret weapons. Either they're incredibly stupid or just as overconfident. _The Russian UN general called his communications officer.

"Get a hold of Special Command, now! Tell them we have a highest priority target."

* * *

Moving along the beach with the rest of his men, Colonel Burke crouched behind a building as the marine squad that was providing him protection engaged another UN machine gun nest in the next building. They had been at this for an hour as they slowly chewed through the UN's defense lines, running through mines and obstacles as well as an increasing number of enemy troops that were rushed in from the west to throw them back into the sea. Putting aside his carbine for a moment, Burke called his radioman over and quickly grabbed the receiver as he called upstairs.

"NEPTUNE, this is ARTEMIS. How the hell long we gotta stay on this beach?"

"Just enough until they spring the trap," NEPTUNE responded. "Given how big of a demonstration we're putting on, they should be here any minute." Burke heard commotion as one of the marines pointed at the sky, looking up at two new aircraft that were approaching from the east. Both were black-painted large bat-winged stealth bombers with a large object mounted under their bellies.

"I think they just showed up," Burke reported to Admiral Gato.

"We see them," NEPTUNE replied. "Hold your position and keep your men steady. The show's just about to begin!"

Gliding swiftly down to the battle area, both of the black bombers detached their payloads and then climbed rapidly back upwards. From each of the two aircraft dove a large white object that looked at first like a bird, their wings stretched out as they flew towards the battlefield. As the two units got closer their whole bodies became noticeable, landing with violent thuds as they swiftly dropped on the ground.

"Harpies on the ground!" a lookout exclaimed on the _Liberator_'s bridge. Gato spoke into his satellite phone again. "They're here, HUNTER."

"Roger," Misato's voice came back. "Engaging now!"

On the shore the purple and red giants turned and began to move towards where both of the white giants had landed. Picking up speed, both of the units began to fire with pallet guns and rockets mounted on their arms and backs. Several kilometers away, the harpies retracted their wings and grabbed their long spears. With salivating toothy grins, each of the eyeless white demons began to run towards the Evangelions that were in front of them.

Burke, his radioman and the marines they were with took cover behind their building and watched as the giants began to fight it out. Sounds of the battle began to taper off as soldiers on both sides found themselves distracted by the EVAs as they closed in on one another. Loudly over the radio Burke could hear Misato's voice giving orders to the two EVAs on the shore. "Unit 01, Unit 02, release all firepower now!" At her command each of the EVAs let loose a massive salvo of flame rockets at the Harpies in front of them.

Briefly stopped by the wave of explosions caused by the flame rockets, the two Harpies continued to close in to them. Once they were within two thousand meters of EVA-01 and 02, each of the two white EVAs took their spears and thrust them towards the purple and red units.

Screaming at the speed of sound, each of the giant lances transformed in flight into the distinctive double-helix of the Lance of Longinus, the only object in the world that could immobilize an Evangelion. With debilitating force the two lances quickly found their targets. Before the red and purple EVAs could avoid the attack, the lances struck them dead center in the chest. A massive wave of destruction emanated from each of the impacts. Watching the battle as it unfolded, Burke and his team dove for cover inside the building as the shockwave barreled over them.

After a moment as the dust cleared Burke slowly pushed himself off the floor and looked outside of the building's broken glass windows. Searching towards where the "friendly" EVAs had been, he now saw only open sky. The colonel looked carefully and saw massive amounts of wreckage where the purple and red EVAs were just standing a minute ago. The ground around them was cratered and everything around them for a kilometer was coated black and grey. The marines and his radioman also spotted the result of the Harpies attack on the EVAs.

"Holy shit, colonel!" one of the marines shouted, "They wasted the EVAs!"

"We are _so_ fucked," another of the marines said in dread.

Indeed it seemed like the marine's observation was accurate. After striking down Unit 01 and 02, the two Harpies began to go after the Alliance troops on the ground, indiscriminately stomping on tanks and other vehicles as the remaining forces on the beach tried to engage the giants with whatever they had left.

Burke's radio came on, and Jeff his radioman handed him the receiver. "ARTEMIS," NEPTUNE asked, "Can you locate the spears those things just threw?" The colonel took a minute and saw the silvery objects floating in the water within a few meters of the beach. "Affirmative," Burke replied, "They're within reach."

"Get some units on top of them now," Gato ordered, "it's time to raise the curtain."

From the ground Burke got on the radio and ordered two groups of engineers to move towards the large spears in their tracked armor and try to latch on to them. To the rest of the landing force Burke then admonished his units to hold their ground and wait for reinforcements that were coming. One junior commander who had also seen the Harpies destroy the two EVAs shot back at Burke over the communicator: "You saw what happened! You think we're gonna last against those guys?!" The colonel was about to respond angrily when he heard more voices on the radio.

"HUNTER, this is NEPTUNE. You are go for launch."

"Roger that, NEPTUNE. Keep them busy, we'll be there in just a moment."

"Aye, aye," the admiral said, and then turned to his gunnery officer. "Target all weapons on Harpies One and Two. Fire!" Second later dozens of missiles and cannons engaged the two Mass Producton EVAs. Gato watched again as all the fired weapons bounced off the two EVAs, leaving large plumbs of smoke and fire. He knew it didn't matter if they actually hurt them, Gato thought, just as long as they had them distracted.

The two white monsters were both put into a rage, as they took fire from ships, aircraft, and whatever other Alliance weapons were close by. None of the weapons could actually harm the two EVAs but being fired at from all directions annoyed the Harpies greatly and each of them swung around rapidly to crush anything that was close by. Neither of them could see what was speeding towards them from the direction of the ocean.

Skimming just over one hundred meters over the sea, three aircraft sped towards the landing site at over Mach one. One of the aircraft was a Thunderbolt tactical VTOL, the other two were large B-1 Lancers, and riding on top of each of the giant bombers was Evangelions Unit 01 and 02. This time it was the actual EVAs.

At the controls of the Thunderbolt was Kaji, with Misato sitting in tandem behind him. She would be commanding the EVAs while monitoring the battle from her console.

"Looks like they took the bait," Kaji reported.

Misato used an infra-red scope to observe the wreckage of the EVA decoys on the beach. NERV had designed the automated decoys to visually simulate an Evangelion, even mounting functional weapons on them to give them a more realistic appearance. Using them here was convincing enough to SEELE to draw out both of their remaining EVAs, and that fit right into the rest of Misato's plan.

"Shinji! Asuka!" Misato called into her microphone. Both pilots quickly reported back. "Here!"

"We're going to go in fast and right on top of these things. The Alliance troops on the beach are trying to get control over each of their lances. Move to defeat the Harpies quickly before they can grab them back.

"Yes, Colonel," they both said in unison.

"Get ready to launch, on my mark," Misato called out.

The Thunderbolt flew swiftly over the beach and moved right in between both of the Harpies as they continued to attack anything they saw like monsters in a Japanese movie. About one minute behind Kaji's Thunderbolt were both of the bombers, and at the point they crossed the beach the Evangelions that were riding them ejected braking parachutes and then pushed off of the bomber's spines. The B-1s quickly gained altitude, climbing nearly vertically straight up into the sky as they lost the massive load of the EVAs against their thrust.

Moving in tandem both Evangelions landed on their feet, skidding several hundred meters along the ground as they broke their speed. The Harpies looked at their new opponents, bearing their toothy smiles.

"Well, look who we have here!" Asuka called out, not sure if the SEELE EVAs could hear her or not. Strapped to Unit 02's back was another Lance of Longinus, the same synthetic ones used by the Mass Production series. She drew it out of its brackets and slammed it against EVA-02's other palm. "You should pick on someone your own size!"

Misato called instructions into her microphone as Kaji pivoted the VTOL in a 180 turn. "Unit 01, Unit 02. Attack now!"

"Here we go," Shinji said as he pulled out his own lance. It had been a while since he had last fought in the EVA and admitted to himself that he was very nervous about where he was now. That was, at least, until he saw the Harpies. Memories of being strung up and helplessly hung over the GeoFront by the white things that were again in front of him were all the motivation he needed. Both he and Asuka charged their EVAs at the Harpies with battle cries, lances pointed in front of them.

As the purple and red EVAs came towards them, both of the Harpies spread out their wings and started to move upwards. "Oh, no you don't!" Asuka yelled, and she forcefully threw her lance straight towards the white Harpy in front of her. Not sure if it would have an effect on the EVA, she watched as the lance sailed towards the beast as she quickly ran Unit 02 over and closed the distance as much as she could. Despite the fact that the Harpy could fly the lance was faster than it and struck it on the shoulder, bringing it back down to the ground, but the lance slipped off the Harpy and fell to the ground along with it.

Shinji did the same with his target, throwing his lance as he aimed for the center of its chest. He was rewarded with success as the weapon hit the Harpy was dropped from the sky, plunging down and bouncing on the ground in front of him. While it was able to strike the enemy, Shinji's lance didn't fully penetrate and fell to the ground as well.

Asuka quickly rushed the fallen Harpy in front of her, pulling out of her arm holder a squat barrel-type weapon. As the Harpy rushed to pick itself off of the ground, Unit 02 got within a few meters and readied her weapon.

"Don't think I don't remember you," Asuka snarled. "Payback's a bitch, isn't it?!" A second later the EVA pulled the trigger to the flamethrower and long tongues of flame shot out. She made several long pulls of the flame gun in quick succession and then waited for the smoke and flame to die down to see the result of her attack.

What she had expected to see was the same result as what happened in the GeoFront battle, that the high-intensity flames would burn the Mass Production series units up until their skin became black, like they did then. Unfortunately the Harpy that she fought now seemed nearly impervious to the flame attacks, picked up the lance that was on the ground below it, and now lunged at her with the spear that she had previously thrown at it.

"Shit," Asuka cursed as she dodged the spear. "Unit 02 to control, flames don't work anymore on this thing!"

Misato received the message and countered. "Then take it down with mêlée weapons! Quickly"

"Upgrades," Kaji quipped. "SEELE's been busy."

"We've got a few new tricks of our own," Misato replied with a smile.

Asuka pivoted in front of the Harpy and quickly gave it an axe kick, then twisted forward and grabbed the lance from it's hand. Both EVAs fought for control, tumbling down to the ground and rolling over buildings and tanks that were strewn along the peninsula.

To EVA-02's right was EVA-01, which had already picked the lance up from the ground. As the Harpy pounced upwards off the ground, Shinji was waiting and then swung the lance hard like a sword against the white EVA as it tried to get up. He did that twice, forcing it to back pedal against a hill until the Harpy used its leg and pushed EVA-01 upwards and several hundred meters towards the bay. Unit 01 splashed hard into the water as Shinji tried to regain his bearings.

Misato watched Shinji's battle unfold and directed Kaji to fly the Thunderbolt over to where EVA-01 was landed. "Shinji, get up!" she shouted. He worked to get his EVA out of the water as the other Mass Production EVA started to move quickly towards him.

Raising its hand the Harpy emitted some sort of energy and its own lance immediately lifted in the air and flew towards it. Some Alliance engineers had tried to put on chains to tow it away, but the force of traction energy was so strong it immediately broke the chains. As the lance landed in the White EVA's palms it ran towards the beach where EVA-01 was getting back up out of the water.

"Distract it," Misato orderd Kaji. The pilot complied by flying the Thunderbolt right by the face the Harpy and letting loose with two entire pods of FFAR rockets before rapidly dodging the giant fist that came their way. "All units, engage fire on Harpy #2!" Misato ordered and in the next moment gunfire from both naval vessels in the bay and units on the ground again fired into the Harpy to distract it.

For her part after rolling on the ground directly into the other side of the peninsula, Asuka's Unit 02 wrestled control over the spear and she immediately lunged at the Harpy again with it. Dodging the thrust her opponent also raised its hand and summoned its own spear, and within a moment it flew into its open hand, still with multiple chains attached to it. The white EVA moved to strike Asuka with the spear but she was quicker, grabbing her Prog Knife out of its holder and immediately pressing forward against it with the knife in one hand and her lance in the other. She rotated around and struck the Harpy in the back with the Prog knife, then when it tried to spread its wings and fly off she pushed off the lance and vaulted Unit 02 in the air, kicking at the Harpy as she went airborne. Again it went down with Asuka following it to the ground.

Shinji shook his head to clear himself and saw the other Harpy as it looked for things to kill while the Alliance continued to fire a barrage at it. He saw the Harpy pick up a tank that firing at it from the ground and then quickly crushed it with its other hand. In the video monitor of the EVA he could see the crew in the tank try to escape it. One man climbed out of a hatch to jump out, but the Harpy lifted it high in the air before he could escape. He lost his balance and plunged to his death below. Another crew member tried to get out of a second hatch but was then crushed to death as the harpy tightened its grip. Grinning with salivating lips, the Mass Production EVA turned to another tank, lifting it in the air and crushing it and its crew as well as they tried to escape.

The graphic images of men dying by being squeezed to death shocked Shinji. _This thing is so powerful...why does it even bother with these little guys when it can fight me. It just wants to kill anything it sees._ He then saw a white-painted Thunderbolt spinning around and just barely avoiding being crushed by the white beast. _Misato and Kaji. Those men on the ground..._

_No way I can let it harm them._

_No way._

Unit 01 pulled one of its Progressive Knives from his holder. Holding the knife in attack position in front of him in one hand, and the Lance in another, Shinji screamed a battle cry and raced towards the Harpy at full speed.

As Shinji moved Unit 01 into a charge Unit 01 roared right along with him, and when the Harpy turned its head to see what was coming the purple beast was already right on top of him. Screaming with anger, Shinji struck with both lance and knife, pushing the EVA to the ground and repeatedly punching holes in it until it stopped moving. Once it stopped, Shinji stood up Unit 01 above it, blades at the ready.

"Good job, Shinji," Misato called over the speakers, "do the entry plug, now!" Shinji realized that the Mass Production EVA would regenerate without the _Coup de Grasse_, and quickly dove down to roll it over and tear out the flesh in its back. He could feel it squirming as it tried to regenerate and avoid being killed, but after ripping through its thick back Shinji found the red-colored entry plug and quickly plunged his lance right through it. A large splash of LCL doused Unit 01 in red as it struck the plug, and the battered milk-white giant, covered in sickly red liquid, permanently stopped moving.

"About time you got yours," Asuka chided. "I got mine a minute ago." Shinji looked to his left and saw Unit 02 standing tall over a white EVA lying on the ground, a progressive knife sticking through its chest. "So, what do you think, Misato? Do I get first prize this time?"

Misato was about to reply when she saw the white EVA below Asuka moving slightly. "Asuka, did you get the plug?" She hurriedly asked.

"Yep, stuck the knife right through it. It's not going any..." Just as she spoke the Harpy suddenly lunged up at EVA-02, knife still embedded in its chest cavity. Asuka screamed as the Harpy attacked her again with the lance in its hand.

"ASUKA!" Shinji shouted. Acting quickly, he threw the lance that was in Unit 01's other hand at the Harpy and hit it directly in the back. As the lance plunged deeply into the Harpy it was paralyzed in mid-attack, hand still in the air. Asuka quickly saw the opportunity and swung around with her Prog knife, slicing its head clean off its shoulders in one fluid motion. LCL spouted out of the neck in all directions as the white body fell backwards and rolled to the side on the ground. Realizing her mistake Asuka immediately jumped on top of the Harpy, this time taking no chances and ripping its abdomen to shreds as she dug for the entry plug. Once she found it she again plunged her knife it in several times and then ripped it out in pieces from the body of the Harpy.

Asuka panted heavily as her EVA knelt on top of the dead carcass. _Damn, I'm getting soft._

"Asuka, are you OK," she heard on the audio. She looked up at Shinji and was momentarily angry at him. "I could have handled that, you know?!" she shot at him.

"I know," he calmly replied, expecting her response.

"Then why did you get in the way?!"

Looking at her without expression, Shinji said simply "I hate Harpies."

"I hate them too!"

"Then I guess we're in the right place, then." he answered her.

Left without anything else to say, Asuka looked like she was going to blow up at Shinji. After a moment her face changed from anger to smiling, laughing at the stupidity of their situation.

Before they could say anything else to each other, Misato's face came on their video screens. "Good job, both of you. Asuka!" She groaned as she answered, knowing what was next. "What!?"  
"You did well," Misato said gently. "Just be more careful please."

"Sure," Asuka said quietly.

Looking down below him, Shinji could see the Alliance troops on the ground as they regrouped after being stomped on by the white giants. Dozens of tanks were smashed and crumpled, with men wounded and dead strewn all around. On the ground, Colonel Burke was directing men, ordering some to go to the wounded while rallying the survivors to press forward against the remaining UN troops that were in front of them. From his EVA Shinji saw the large number of wounded and dying, watching the efforts of medics and others troops as they worked on each man lying down on the ground. Looking around he didn't see a hospital or even an aid station were they would be taken.

"Misato?" he asked. "There's a lot of wounded. Where can they go?"

"There's a hospital on board _Liberator_," she answered.

"Then let me help, please."

Misato thought for a moment. The plan was originally once the Harpies were defeated to then pull back the EVAs, holding them in reserve and removing them as a target in case SEELE had anything further to send after them. She realized that Shinji was taking initiative by asking to help on the battle field, and she couldn't see anything wrong with that.

"Unit 01," Misato ordered, "Assist the Alliance with evacuating their wounded."

"Yes, ma'am" Shinji answered.

"Unit 02?"

"Right here!"

"You're assigned to the Alliance tactical forces. Use the EVA to keep the remaining UN forces from escaping!"

"Right!"

"Asuka" Misato called again, "Don't use lethal force unless you have to. EVAs are for fighting other EVAs, they're not killing machines."

The redhead hesitated at first but the realized the point Misato was making. "Understood." She immediately picked up her weapons and began to run EVA-02 towards the rear area of the UN forces.

Colonel Burke continued to direct his forces, regrouping men at the beach and sending them northward towards the UN front. Standing above them was the purple EVA-01. From the EVA a boy's voice called out on loudspeakers. "Excuse me! Are there any wounded that need to be evacuated?"

One of the marines in Col. Burke's escort was incredulous at the voice coming from the Evangelion above them. "Is that a kid in there?!Who's piloting that thing, anyway?" The colonel gave the marine a stern look and then replied back himself at the pilot. "We've got groups of wounded inside these two armored personnel carriers," he shouted, pointing at two armored vehicles close to him. "Can you get these men to the _Liberator_?"

"I'll do it!" the voice responded, and then the purple giant reached over and gently lifted up both of the green and gray camouflaged vehicles. Turning for the bay, Unit 01 then quickly ran over towards the beach. Plunging into the water, EVA 01 waded through the shallow bay and made its way to the carrier several kilometers away towards the ocean.

Racing the EVA north-west, Asuka ran Unit 02 for several kilometers up the peninsula towards where the UN positioned their command and logistic support units. Finding a large clump of command vehicles with large antennas and satellite dishes, she identified it as the UN command post and immediately ran over and just behind it.

At the command post there was chaos as the UN command staff hurriedly packed up their computers and equipment as they evacuated. They had watched as the Harpies came swooping down and destroyed the Alliance Evangelions, only to find that they were decoys instead. When the real EVAs came into the battle and made short work of the Mass Production EVAs, the UN commander had called a general retreat.

The Russian general was about to give orders over his command network for the artillery to use N2s to cover their escape when while running out of the tent to his waiting VTOL he saw the red giant standing over the encampment.

Among her many other talents was speaking passable Russian, and Asuka put it to good measure here. "Hey, you there!" she said over the EVA's loudspeakers at the group of officers below. They froze as they all saw the forty-meter giant above them. One missile team next to the HQ launched a salvo at the red giant but all the missiles bounded off the EVA, exploding in air harmlessly.

"I demand you surrender your army, now!" Asuka called out to the officers. When several of them tried to run to an armored vehicle to make their escape, Asuka used Unit 02's flame gun and spread a wall of flame between their vehicle and the road ahead of them.

"Ah-ah-aah!" she said coyly. "No one's going anywhere!"

"What the hell?" one of the commanders on the ground said with disbelief. "It's got the voice of a little girl!"

The UN generals and officers below stood in fright as the red giant proceeded to stomp on every vehicle that in the encampment. Making sure each had no men inside of it (in one case she waited until they all ran outside), Asuka proceeded to squish each tank, VTOL, and other vehicle until only the group of men were left standing outside. She was about to scoop up who she thought looked like the general in charge of the men when she saw Kaji's VTOL fly over to where her EVA and the UN command post stood. The VTOL quickly landed and both Kaji and Misato exited the vehicle, weapons at the ready.

As Kaji pointed a sub-machine gun at the group of men, Misato walked over directly to the UN general with a cold look in her eyes. The general tried to back into the crowd of officers but Misato forcefully collared him, dragging him over to where another UN soldier was standing with a radio on his back.

"Call them off, now!" Misato ordered in English. "Order your men to surrender, or we'll use the EVA on them just like you tried to do to us with those white things!"

The UN general stammered in broke English. "I had nothing to do with that! We just wanted them to kill the Evangelions!"

"Call them off then!" Misato ordered.  
"I suggest you do it," Kaji said casually, waving his sub-machine gun at the red EVA next to them. "We have a hard time keeping her temper under control, and right now she's really on edge."

The general looked up at the red Evangelion. She looked right back at him, as her flame gun's pilot light flared up at the end of its barrel. Unit 02 then quickly bared its very large teeth at the man below.

The Russian pushed Misato out of the way and grabbed the radio receiver, hurriedly ordering his men to stand down. Afterwards he looked at Misato with anguish. "My family will not survive this."

"Then you need to pick better employers," Misato answered coldly.


	12. Chapter 11: Rejection

_Tokyo-3_

Patrick walked down the hallway from the boys' suite to the girls' suite, carefully carrying a teapot and two cups on a small tray. Since Units 01 and 02 had left a couple of days before, he had been busy piloting Unit 04 and patrolling the GeoFront and surrounding area as the Alliance continued to build up their defenses. As a result of all of the activity he had very little time to see Rei, or anyone else for that matter. After another twelve-hour stint his body had become tired and wanted to go and have a long sleep, but he forced it to carry on just a little while longer. Seeing Rei again now would at least brighten up his day for a couple of hours.

He had called her several times since asking her for the date and each time he called her mobile phone went to voice mail. It was only just before he boarded Unit 04 early in the morning when she did finally pick up. Asking her if he could come over for tea after his patrol, she simply said "okay" and then hung up. In the back of his mind something bothered him about Rei's recent behavior towards him, as she seemed to again be very distant and withdrawn. It was as if she was becoming her old self again and that worried Patrick.

Arriving in front of the suite door, he rang the doorbell and Rei was standing in front of him. She wore an outfit consisting of a black and white plaid skirt, a white top with a turtleneck, and black tights and loafers. Patrick recognized the clothes, as they were same outfit she last wore in their one and only date.

"Hi," he said energetically, trying to set the tone. Unfortunately Rei was expressionless and it seemed to Patrick that she was maybe even a little dour. "Come with me please," she said without emotion, and then without anything further she started to walk towards the elevator.

"Uh, what about the tea?" Patrick said.

Rei stopped and spoke without facing him. "We won't need that where we are going."

_This doesn't feel right_. He quickly stepped inside the girls' suite and placed the tray on the living room table. There he caught a glimpse of Mari in the kitchen in a lively discussion with her former controller Lieutenant Wellington, who was staying in the girls' suite in Misato's absence. He started to get away until Mari noticed him.

"Hello there, Pats!" she said. "Off on a date are you?"

"I think so. Actually I'm not sure of the plan at all here." Before Mari could continue the discussion further Patrick excused himself and ran out the door to catch up with Rei.

Rei was already in the elevator when Patrick caught up to her, the doors nearly closing as he reached them. Quickly pushing them back he entered the small elevator as they shut. Once closed, Rei used her key card to activate a special set of buttons on the elevator and it began to plunge downward.

They both just stood by each other, silently watching the door as the elevator moved in the lower reaches of the GeoFront. Patrick looked at Rei's face but she didn't meet his gaze and instead just kept looking at the door.

"So," he said, trying to keep from being nervous, "where are we going?"

"Terminal Dogma," she replied. "I need to show you something."

The small elevator continued downwards through a black abyss as Patrick thought of how he could pry a little more out of Rei. He took an indirect approach.

"You wore that outfit again," he commented. "You look really good in it." Rei gave him no response of any kind.

_She's withdrawing herself but also wanted me to go down here. Wait a minute, isn't Terminal Dogma where Rei was…_

His thoughts were interrupted by the images outside of the elevator's glass walls. It had gone from a black abyss to a brightly colored one. The "landscape" outside the windows was bizarre, looking like giant biological organs embedded in an orange sea of LCL. Patrick's mouth gaped open in astonishment.

"What _is_ this place?"

"This is the Black Moon," Rei replied. "The seed of humanity."

_…transformed?_

The elevator continued down. Patrick looked at the display on the control panel and saw that after a few minutes they were over 2,000 meters below sea level. They were down so low that his ears popped several times along the journey. Finally the elevator reached the bottom, passed through a few more subterranean levels of solid rock, and then the doors opened up. Without saying a word Rei immediately left the elevator and began to walk rapidly down a dark hallway, with just a little light provided by LED lights on either side of the walkway.

Patrick followed Rei for another few minutes as she briskly led him down several passageways. Along the way he saw no one else, not even any guards or other NERV or Alliance staff. Outside of a dull churning noise coming from the distance there wasn't any sound in the place, giving it a distinctively eerie feeling.

They came to a closed doorway with a large plaque on it that read in both Japanese and English "DUMMY PLUG PLANT: NO ENTRY." Rei again slid her security card on a card reader along the wall and the doors immediately slid open. She walked inside and Patrick came in with her.

Inside the "Plant" was a set of computers and displays on one side of the room, and then a large plexiglass tube and a control center on the other. The tube reached up into the ceiling, and connected to a complicated looking set of large ducts that Patrick thought resembled either brain tissue or the small intestine. There were a set of steel doors behind the tube that were closed shut. The cavernous room itself was dark, lit only by LED floodlights on the walls and ceilings.

_This must be where she spends her time_, Patrick thought. He noticed that the scan tube was narrow, just large enough for a person to fit inside. Rei walked alongside of it, grabbing a remote control from the control center and then walking towards the steel doors that were along the wall.

Patrick moved to follow her but she then said "wait here," and he stood motionless by the control center as she moved to the back wall. He looked around the strange lab, taking it all in. _If I were a mad scientist this sort of place is what I'd want for Christmas_, he mused.

Once she reached the back wall Rei pushed a button on the remote control and the lights in the room went completely dark. Startled by the sudden darkness, Patrick called out to her. "Rei, what are we doing here?" A moment later the large steel panels on the far wall began to recede, and the room was illuminated by light-filled tanks of LCL that were now visible.

Looking for her, Patrick now saw Rei standing in front of the giant LCL tanks. Glancing at the orange liquid filled tanks themselves, Patrick saw a large number of floating objects bobbing silently inside. He took a closer look and noticed something that looked like an arm, then a leg, and then a head. He saw that there were dozens of these parts inside the tank floating around and then as he continued to observe the tank he suddenly realized just what he was looking at. His body suddenly began to shiver all over, and his stomach knotted up to the point where bile came up his throat, making him wanting to retch. Floating in the LCL were dozens, perhaps hundreds of dismembered body parts, and they were all parts of Rei.

"Oh my God!" Patrick stammered. He looked at Rei but she stood stoically in front of the tank, looking back at him.

"This is me," she declared. "This is the reality of my existence."

"What are these?" Patrick asked, pushing back his feelings of horror.

"These are all copies of this body," Rei replied. "There were 97 inside this tank until they were destroyed by Dr. Akagi, and until one month ago the body I have now was also one of them."

"Why are you showing me this?"

"I needed to show you this, so that I can make you understand."

"Understand what?"

Rei paused for a few seconds, and then said in a straightforward manner. "I am incompatible with you."

Patrick could feel his heart drop to the floor. "Incompatible?! But…"

"I'm not naïve about your intentions towards me, Forrestal-kun," she said. "But please don't also be naïve about the nature of my existence. I am not the same as anyone else. I cannot have relationships the same as anyone else."

He raced his mind to say something but Rei continued on. "This body will not live without administered medication. I require constant monitoring to ensure my health."

"That hardly matters at all," Patrick replied.

"My synthetic nature means I cannot survive outside of NERV. When Evangelion is finished you can leave this place and live your life. I will be unable to do this myself."

"If you're here I don't have plans to leave!"

"But that is not a suitable life for you," she replied.

"Isn't that my decision?"

"I understand your feelings towards me," Rei said to him, softening her tone slightly. "But this body will not allow me to form a physical relationship with another human in any case."

"What do you mean?"

The look on her face seemed sad now. "I am unable to conceive a child," she said to him. "This body was never intended to interface with humans in that way. I am made in the image of a human, but I am not the same as you."

Patrick thought about what she was saying, trying to piece together her words into meaning that he could both understand and then convince her otherwise. The thought that she might not be available for a more physical relationship tugged at the back of his mind: it wasn't something he had put much thought into up until now, but clearly she had considered it and now forced him to consider as well.

"Again, what really matters? Doesn't having a connection matter?" he said, trying to be convincing without arguing. "On the island I felt we had a connection to each other. Didn't you feel this too?"

"I did," she said with sadness in her voice. "But the connection cannot be what you want it to be. You would be better off forming a relationship with another. You get along with Illustrious-chan, she would be more compatible with you."

Patrick began to slowly walk closer to where she was standing in front of the tank. "Rei, I don't care about anyone else. All I care about is you. All I think about is you." He stopped half-way to the wall. "I just want you, and I've just wanted you ever since I saw you."

They stared at each other for a minute as Patrick's heart raced. He had hoped earlier that the last few days and weeks, over tea and books and visits and adventures he had broken through to her, but suddenly she had reversed herself and now was pushing away from him.

"I am sorry. I told you earlier I could not, and it is still true. Please do not pursue a relationship with me any further."

Patrick's heart fell on the floor. He forced himself to push back tears that were forming, shaking his head. He swallowed and gave it his last best shot.

"Rei," he confessed, "I love you. Please don't push me away."

The confession got a reaction from her, if only subtly. Her face went from stoic to hard, and she closed her eyes, turning her head away. "Then I must go."

"We have memories together," Patrick said. "The train. The date. The time I found you again. The island. You can't say these don't mean anything."

"I have these memories too," she said softly. "There are not without meaning. I enjoyed the times I spent with you. You felt warm, and with you I didn't have to perform any function. I could simply be Rei."

Patrick's felt hope at her words. "It can be that way every day, you know."

"One of the other differences between this body and humans is that I am incapable of dreaming. I have never had one. What happened between us seemed like a dream to me, but I realize it is just a dream. It is time for me to wake up. It is time for you as well.

"Rei! No, I…"

"Forrestal-kun, please listen to me and not just hear. Thank you for the time I spent with you, but do not continue to seek me. Farewell." As she said farewell, the remaining lights went out in the room.

"Rei? Rei! REI!" Patrick called out. He ran to where she stood in front of the LCL tank and instead bumped into the tank walls. "Ouch!" The boy tried to search for her in the darkness. "Rei! Don't give up like this!"

Patrick stumbled throughout the laboratory, frantically searching for Rei as best she could without light. He felt his way through every corner inside the spacious lab but there was no sign of her.

"Rei, if you can hear me, please listen." He stood for a moment and closed his eyes, trying to feel her out in some way. Patrick felt she was close by but he couldn't quite tell where. "It wasn't just a dream that I saw with you, it was the reality too. I know it's not so easy for you, believe me. I'm an EVA pilot too, you know. Please, don't make yourself so lonely like this. " His voice went softer as he gently pleaded with her in the darkness.

"Rei, please don't do this. I promise you'll never be alone again. Please." Standing there for a long moment Patrick tried to listen to the surroundings and see where she was. All the noise in the room was just some soft mechanical sounds in the distance, there was no sign of her.

_Maybe she's not in the room,_ he thought. _This place is big, she probably just ran away somewhere around here._ Still determined, Patrick left the lab and started searching for her along the dark hallways of Terminal Dogma.

Patrick was wrong however, and in fact Rei was close by in the darkness. Adjoining the laboratory was a small room divided with dark curtains, containing a bed and various hospital-type equipment. It was the secret room where she had spent her early life, at least in her first two incarnations.

Against the far edge of the metal hospital bed she sat on the floor. She had removed her loafers so she could walk without being heard, and was now huddled in silence, hugging her legs as she had listened to Patrick's pleas. She closed her eyes and squeezed her legs harder as she felt a pain inside of her that she had not expected.

A boy's voice spoke behind her. "You didn't tell him everything, did you?"

"No," she replied to the voice in her mind. "I told him what he needed to know."

"He won't give up so easily," the voice of Adam replied.

"It doesn't matter. There is nothing left to me but to do this."

She closed her eyes again, bearing the pain she had inflicted upon Patrick and upon herself. With her mind she saw the image of him, the images that she favored. Seeing his smile, and feeling the sense of adventure that he conveyed to her. The way his eyes looked at her with warmth, she had seen that same look before, from someone else who she had also once had a connection with.

In the period after Third Impact things would change for her, Rei thought. With new people and new circumstances her life would be different, and she could leave behind the pain and despair that she had felt before. But over the last few days as she drew closer to the others she felt the echoes of the torn edges of her heart. Perhaps it was being in the GeoFront and being surrounded with memories of him, or maybe it was being in the Dummy Plug Plant again, or even just seeing the LCL stabilizer that she needed for her body to keep living. She remembered the first time she was ever given a shot with the stabilizer, and she remembered who it was who had given it to her.

Within the last few days the memories of the former commander of NERV that she had suppressed had all come back. Through them was forced to relive what had happened, and how the man that she had blindly trusted as a child, the one who was her first "other," had suddenly violated her, body and soul.

Patrick wanted to be closer to her, she knew. A date would turn into several, and then as trust was built and the connection between them became stronger she would loosen up her defenses and begin the process of slowly bonding with him. At least, that was his intentions.

Unfortunately the wound she carried in her heart was too deep. She didn't want to go there again, she didn't want to trust someone like that, to be touched and then later to fear to be touched. She couldn't, not as long as every thought and memory she now had turned back to having the embryonic body of Adam thrust inside of her, and how angry she had felt. Somehow she had dug inside of herself and on that day found the strength to turn things around. The pain had never really gone away however, and it was never going to.

She was incompatible, she had concluded, and that was that. She would just go on with her life as long as she filled a role, and then the boy would move on as well.

Rei tried to find any comfort she could. Memories of being in Shinji's arms were all she could come up with, and she squeezed her legs a little more.

"You could have him instead, you know," Adam said to her, reading her thoughts.

She knew it as well, but also knew the reality. Shinji and her _were_ part of each other, Rei realized, but that which brought them close together also pulled them apart. She was the embodiment of Shinji's mother, and as such there were doors that were closed to the two of them. Also, she knew of the paired hearts that Shinji shared with the Second Child. _He's where he needs to be, with who he needs to be with_. Into that situation has stumbled Patrick, providing to her an unexpected alternative to the loneliness she felt. Now fearing the unknown she had abandoned that too.

"I just have my purpose," Rei finally answered the shadow in her mind. "That's all that matters. Nothing more."

Adam looked at her with red eyes. "You're just running away then," the voice of Kaworu countered.

"Yes, I am. That is all I know how to do."

"Then you're wrong about yourself."

"What do you mean?"

Adam scoffed at her. "You're human after all."

* * *

_Okinawa_

Misato leaned over and adjusted the blanket wrapped around Shinji and Asuka just a little bit more. Having a very long and eventful day, both pilots were exhausted and once taken back to the Alliance's temporary island base in the Japan Sea they promptly crashed on a cot inside of a small tent. The older woman gently brushed Shinji's hair a little as he slept, doting on him as she always did. Asuka, her head resting on Shinji's shoulder, stirred a little until Misato gently caressed her head and she drifted back to sleep. She tucked them while looking at both of their innocent faces, both drifting far away from today's battlefield.

Kaji opened up the tent slightly, careful not to make noise as Misato rose up to greet him. They both slipped out of the tent and walked outside. Kaji motioned to two of the Alliance marines to stand guard in front of the tent and then took Misato by the hand to another corner of the encampment where they could talk privately. Leaning against a small building, Kaji wrapped his arms around Misato as she leaned against him, both of them sighing in relief.

"Think they're far away from here?" Kaji asked her.

"I hope so. It's so cute to watch their faces when they sleep. There's hope for them left, I suppose."

"They did well today."

Misato nodded in agreement. "They did, both of them. Getting rid of both of those Harpies gets a huge load off my mind. With them out of the way now all we have to do is find that base of theirs."

"Easier said than done," Kaji answered.

"Oh, but I thought you were so good at that sort of thing?"

"SEELE's playing for keeps. If they lost the rest of their EVAs today, aside from whatever they can do with Unit 06, they will be looking to slash back in any way they can. My best hope is that they can give themselves away more in the process of striking back."

"And then we can finally end this," Misato finished for them. Kaji nodded and then they both went back to quietly looking up at the stars above the shoreline.

"What's going to happen after this is all done?" Misato asked him after a few minutes.

"Are you hoping we can all go back to having a normal life after this?"

"I'm not even sure I know what normal is," she said. "I've been so wrapped up in this for so long I'm not sure what else I'd even do."

"If we should be so lucky," Kaji mused, "I think I should go back and set up that farm."

"And what?" Misato said in mock surprise. "Grow watermelons?!"

"Yes. And I can use the secrets gathered from NERV's bioengineering to make gigantic ones that will win every prize for agriculture in the world."

"And then you can charge admission to see these giant-sized watermelons?"

"Of course," he said, "I'd probably make more money that way then if I actually tried to sell them to eat." They both laughed at that and then were quiet again until Misato spoke up.

"I really meant about the kids. Asuka's got a family in Germany but Shinji doesn't really have one anymore."  
"Are you thinking of keeping your favorite house pet?" Kaji asked.

"I'm thinking if would they let me adopt him," Misato answered more seriously. "Him and Rei both."

"Supposing they did," he said, "then what would you do?"

"Go somewhere far away from here," Misato concluded, sighing as she looked up at the stars. "Try to get them back to being just kids. I could do any one thing for them, it would be that."

Kaji squeezed her a little harder as she snuggled into his arms. "We'll find a way to make it happen." She nodded in agreement and then quickly kissed him on the lips. They went back to looking out the late night shoreline. It was peaceful, with waves gently crashing against the beach illuminated against the moonlight. The stars were in the sky were bright and plentiful, but as they looked at the scene Kaji noticed something in the far horizon that didn't seem right to him. After a few seconds to study he pointed it out to Misato as he grabbed his satellite phone. Her eyes went wide at the smoke trails that she saw far away. Whatever they were, they were large and fast and headed just north of their direction.

"Oh my God," she exclaimed. All around them alarm klaxons sounded and soldiers, marines and others rushed to man battle stations.

Kaji briefly discussed on the satellite phone what he saw, and after a few words he hung up. They spoke as they rushed back to the EVA pilot's tent. "Submarine-launched missiles," he said. "Headed for Japan."


	13. Chapter 12: Payback

_Tokyo-3_

Unable to find Rei earlier Patrick had spent two hours wondering around Terminal Dogma's many dark passages, looking so much like a haunted house made of steel, stone and orange LCL (which despite the Second Angel's departure was still in various pools all over the place). Finally he was dragged by Agent Kikuchi back to the elevator despite the boy's pleas.

One the way back to his room and after he had arrived, Patrick repeated the scene with Rei in the lab again and again in his mind. What had he done wrong? Did he push her too hard with the request for a date? It was the sudden turnaround that had shocked him most, as before it seemed like she really was coming to life. Spending quiet evenings conversing with her for the last three weeks had changed his perspective of Rei. She had opened up to him, at least a bit, and her new more relaxed manner was even more endearing to Patrick than when he had met her the first time. He felt like now she was really, actually a friend, sharing common interests in nature and observing the little things in life they both saw. To have Rei suddenly shut the door on his heart like she did had come down on him like a ton of bricks. He couldn't see another pathway to winning her confidence now.

Patrick knew that with the bad episode in Terminal Dogma he would definitely have strong nightmares tonight, and did everything he could to keep from falling asleep. Already coming off of a long patrol in the EVA his body was exhausted and now refused to cooperate, and he found himself drifting off on his bed.

In his dreams he was there again in Terminal Dogma. He could hear the faint machine noises in the background, and see beyond the dim lighting on the floor the giant LCL tank in the back of the Dummy Plug Plant. Body parts floated throughout the tank, gently bumping against the glass. Patrick dared to look at the tank and noticed this time the bodies were not Rei's but just random people. He saw a head float by and tried to get a better look. When the head turned around he saw its face and recognized it as Vance Vinson, the previous pilot of Unit 03. He shuddered uncontrollably as he saw the graphic image of Vance's head smiling at him as it passed by.

Standing in front of the plexiglass of the tank was a girl. She wore Rei's outfit, and like Rei she stood facing him with her hands at her sides. Her hair was blonde and down to her neck. The girl had an elfin face and brilliant green eyes like Patrick's. He recognized her as Erin, his twin sister.

"Erin!" he said in surprise.

Her face was one of anger and torment. Peering down hard on Patrick she screamed at him. "YOU KILLED MY FATHER! YOU KILLED VANCE!"

Patrick took a step back. "No! You don't know the truth!"

"I KNOW THE TRUTH ENOUGH! YOU KILLED THEM!"

Patrick could feel the emotion in the room as her own anger reverberated within himself. In the tank behind her he could make out the faces on the heads that were floating. One was his father's, others were people he had known at NERV-2 before the incident where EVA-04 had absorbed the base.

"Erin, that's not what happened at all!"

The girl continued to fume at him. "You're not my brother at all! You're an imposter! You stole my EVA!"

"Erin, no!" Patrick cried out to her, trying to move closer to her. As he approached her she continued to shout out at him, clenching her fists in rage. "I hate you! I hate you! I HATE YOU!"

"Please listen to me!" Patrick shouted back, nearly approaching where she stood. When he was just a few feet away he looked at Erin's face. It had changed back into Rei's, who looked sternly at him.

"Rei?" he pleaded. "Please not you! What did I do wrong? Please tell me! Please…"

The sounds of alarms were all around him and he felt a strong shaking, tumbling up the dream's image in his mind. In another second he turned around and then found himself falling back into his bed. He opened his eyes and saw Agent Kikuchi, dressed in a white dress shirt and black pants, shaking him violently. "FORRESTAL! WAKE UP!" he shouted.

It took another moment for Patrick to shake his head out of sleep. He glanced at the clock besides his bead. It read 3:16 AM. "What the hell?"

"Come on," Kikuchi said in a raspy voice, taking him by the arm and pulling him out of the bed. "You need to go to the EVA now!"

Patrick's eyes widened as he stood out of bed. _They're finally here_. "It's an attack?"

"Yes," the agent replied as he started pulling Patrick towards the door. "Let's go."

Patrick tried to get some shoes on but Kikuchi continued to pull him towards the door. "Don't waste time! Get moving!" Patrick finally fully woke up and then raced barefoot out the door along with the agent, both of them now running towards the elevator bank at the end of the hall. Kikuchi shoved Patrick in the elevator and then quickly grabbed a keycard and slid it on the control panel, entering a code that allowed him to bypass all stops and go straight to the EVA cages. The elevator rapidly went up, and then a few seconds later lurched sideways.

"Is it Harpies?" Patrick asked him, trying to catch his breath.

"Hell if I know," the agent replied. "They'll tell you more once you're in the plug."

Waiting for the elevator to reach the destination Patrick could hear alarms sounding in all the areas they bypassed. The elevator itself went to emergency lighting as the call for Battle Stations sounded. He stared at the door and tried to calm himself down, forcing his mind to start thinking about piloting and battle. The boy could feel himself shaking and grabbed his arms to soothe himself.

Kikuchi looked at the display and saw that they were almost to the cages. He then stepped over to Patrick and bent over to his right ear.

"Listen, Forrestal, I know right now life sucks for you but you need to focus on what's coming. A lot of people are depending on you out there. Don't blow it with stupid thoughts about your girl." Patrick looked at him angrily at first, then nodded quietly as he realized the gravity of what he was saying.

"I get it," he replied.

"Good, now go!" The elevator came to an abrupt halt and Kikuchi shoved Patrick out the door.

The pilot nearly stumbled as he was pushed out but recovered and sprinted down the hallway and over to the steel gangway that led to Cage 5, where the silver-white Evangelion Unit 04 was held. Racing down the gangway to the plug entry deck, he oddly felt like some sort of superhero transforming as he quickly shed his t-shirt and tossed it to the side and over the railing. Standing at the end were two NERV ground crew in red overalls, one of them holding an orange plugsuit.

"What's going on?" Patrick asked the two crew members as he quickly stopped at the end of the gangway.

"Instructions from Central Dogma once you get in, laddie!" the taller of them said as he handed him his plug suit. Modesty went away as Patrick furiously shoved his sweatpants and underwear down and then climbed naked into the plug suit. A moment later he jumped through the hatch and found his way to the control throne. Shoving his A10 neural headset through his hair, he felt himself pushed back into the throne as the entry plug loaded into the EVA.

The plug flooded with LCL and then went into Emergency Startup mode, which was the quick version of the launch countdown. Once the LCL was charged and went clear, his video screens went on. He could feel the EVA already being moved over to the launch chamber.

A smaller video screen opened in front of him, with an image of Hyuga, dressed in a black t-shirt and without his glasses. "Forrestal-kun," he said, "enemy is conducting a missile bombardment. Unit 04 will be launched topside to Entry Point 23. From there we'll provide you with a positron cannon for armament."

"Any Harpies?" Patrick asked as he settled into the control seat a little more.

"None," Hyuga replied. The pilot breathed a quick sigh of relief. They were an enemy he didn't particularly want to face again.

A second screen appeared in front of him. Aoba, dressed in a black rock and roll t-shirt provided more details.

"Three ballistic missile submarines have launched their full load of ballistic missiles towards Japan. Apogee tracking reveals they're targeting not just Tokyo-3 but most major cities in Central and Southern Japan itself. Your mission is to use the EVA's positron cannon to knock out all incoming missiles before they can detonate their warheads."

"Just me?" Patrick asked.

"The Alliance defense ring will also engage with their own missiles and laser systems. We may have additional support from NERV coming as well. Each submarine carries twenty missiles moving at a top speed of Mach 17, each missile could have as many as ten warheads."

_Up to 600 warheads_, Patrick thought. _Oh hell._

A third video screen appeared in between the other two controllers. Facing him was Admiral Vinson, who was wearing his camouflage uniform, crisply pressed. "Patrick!" he called out.

"Yes, sir?"  
"There's fifty million people in the target range. You're the only real defense between them and those N2 warheads. Just remember that."

"Yes, sir," Patrick said.

"Right. Good hunting, Unit 04." Vinson then pointed at the controllers. "Launch it!" The boy jerked back in the seat as the EVA violently screamed upwards.

In Central Dogma the command staff frantically gave orders as the missile wave approached Japan. Both controllers Hyuga and Aoba shouted into microphones at various departments to get them ready for action, which would be coming in just a few seconds. Admiral Vinson stood on the operator's deck, studying the holographic tactical display carefully and then barking out selected instructions as he worked to adjust the defensive system that the Alliance and NERV had been hobbling together for the last two weeks, praying it would hold against an onslaught such as this.

Unit 04 raced to the surface, arriving on the north edge of the GeoFront among the wrecked buildings of one of Tokyo-3's suburban areas. As the launch guides receded, Patrick looked around and saw a fairly intact tall building to his right flash lights all across it. Suddenly the side of the building slid down, inside of it was a very large cannon.

"Positron cannon in position," Hyuga reported.

"Roger," Patrick answered and then grabbed the cannon with the EVA's right hand. It was very long, nearly as long as the EVA itself. Unit 04 took its left hand and plugged in the cannon directly to the EVA, as Unit 04's S2 engine would provide the power for the cannon itself. "Cannon Locked in!"

"Activating Integration program," Hyuga then said. Patrick watched the display as the weapons controls of the EVA were now merged with the Alliance's air defense system, allowing the automatic fire control to direct the cannon to whatever threat it deemed appropriate. After a few seconds the display board on Hyuga's control panel flashed green. "Integrated into system!" he reported.

"Here they come!" Aoba shouted as the large display in front of them began to fill with targets. Vinson saw the holograph and cracked his knuckles. "Engage!"

Patrick viewed the video display in the EVA and saw the night sky over Tokyo-3. Spread all throughout the sky on the display were dozens of target markers representing incoming weapons. Some were at the far horizon, the data marker indicated them as "boosters" while the closer ones were indicated "warhead" and there were very many of those.

He pointed the positron rifle into the sky and concentrated his mind on firing. "EVA-04, engaging!" All around him in various positions around the GeoFront were missile and laser batteries also pointed at the sky and firing furiously.

Because the rifle's aiming point was controlled by the Alliance's air defense computers, all Patrick really had to do was to just keep concentrating on firing the positron gun. It didn't kick when it fired but he could feel vibrations from the energy buildup and discharge, which happened every three and one half seconds as he fired each pulse. He swallowed, gulping down any stray thoughts and tried to just keep the gun firing.

On the controller's platform in Central Dogma, Sheffield quickly walked in, still wearing a smoking jacket and pajama pants. He saw the large hologram display and the other monitors and immediately grasped the gravity of the situation.

"How much progress into the missile wave?" he asked Vinson.

"We're barely 5 percent into it," the Admiral replied. "At this rate we're going to get overwhelmed." The commander shouted at all of the controllers and staff. "Pick it up, people! They'll punch through before you know it!"

* * *

At the Alliance's base in Okinawa, Misato and Kaji were observing the battle now being fought in the skies over Japan as Shinji and Asuka, awoken from the alarms, ran up to them.

"What's happening?" Shinji asked the adults.

"SEELE's payback for Japan," Kaji replied. "Submarine launched missiles coming from three directions, all headed for Tokyo-3 and major cities in the vicinity."

"Will NERV be able to defend against it?" the boy asked.

"Possibly. Unit 04 is in the field along with the conventional defense." Kaji pointed to the sky and in a moment the pilots saw a bright flash of green light coming from the horizon, hitting a missile in flight.

"It's a positron cannon," Asuka said. "But those things need minutes to recharge. How can he fire it so often?"

"They've probably set the cannon for light impact," Misato explained. "They're warheads, not Angels with AT fields. If they reduce the power per shot the cannon can fire seventeen times a minute at over 3,000 kilometers. It's their best chance against this type of attack."

"What happens if a missile gets through?" Shinji asked.

"Those are likely N2 warheads," Kaji replied. He didn't have to explain it further.

Shinji steeled himself up, looking at Asuka as she nodded in agreement. "Then we should go out there too!"

"Can't," Misato explained. "All of your weapons here are for close-in warfare. We don't have a weapon for the EVA that could really reach that far." She turned to both of them and shrugged. "We don't have any choice except to wait it out and hope for the best." Both pilots grimaced in the helplessness that they felt.

"Ayanami," Shinji said softly.

* * *

In his entry plug Patrick was concentrating furiously to keep up the fire, but as he looked at the display the number of target markers was only increasing. A number on the left hand side said "ESTIMATED AMOUNT OF MISSILE WAVE DEFEATED: 11%"

"Shit," he said aloud, "We're not making a dent into this!"

Hyuga's voice came over the speaker. "Unit 04, concentrate your fire on the boosters at longer range."

"What about the close ones?"

"Defense network will take care of that. Also we're bringing in some additional assets. Just hang in there!"

Dressed in a rainbow-colored bathrobe, Dr. Viraat shouted at technicians as he stood on the gangway next to Unit 05, deep inside the GeoFront. "Hurry!" he said into a megaphone. "Lock the limbs in now! Get it ready or we're all dead!"

The rebuilt Evangelion had legs now, but was still missing its arms. Two giant cranes each moved a single positron cannon mount into one of Unit 05's arm sockets. As locks were slid forward to keep the new limbs in place Viraat called into his communicator held in his other hand. "Are you ready, Miss Lusty?"

Mari's voice crackled over the speaker. "I think so, yeah. They've got me all plugged in now." Her entry plug had not yet been updated, and she was still using the improvised interface that required the VR helmet she wore, with streams of cables plugged into receptors behind her.

"Jolly good," he said, looking in the distance as the ground crew hurried out of the entry plug and it was then sealed and rolled into the green-colored beast. "Miss Lusty I just spent six weeks pasting this thing back together, mostly with foreign parts. Try not to break it again, will you?"

"No promises, Professor, but thank you!" the voice came back cheerfully.

"Off you go, then!" Viraat switched channels on his communicator. "Admiral, Unit 05 is ready for combat."

"Thank you, doctor," the commander's voice came back, and then "Launch it!" Viraat could feel the rush even from a distance as EVA-05 shot rapidly upwards. He remained on the gantry, looking at the empty space where the EVA once stood, sighing in deep relief. "We'll, I've done my part," he muttered.

The display in the plug read MISSILE WAVE DEFEATED: 20% when Patrick heard the rumbling next to him. Turning to his left he saw another hole open up in a city block and shooting out was a green figure the same height as his own. The twin cannons that stood in for arms spun around and pointed towards the sky.

"Lusty!" Patrick exclaimed, happy to see her and her EVA. Mari, wearing her VR helmet, appeared on a private window on the display.

"Lovely night for a war, isn't it?" she said back. "EVA-05 ready for action!"

"Engage," Hyuga ordered and Mari immediately went at it with the twin positron cannons. Mari's presence gave Patrick more confidence as well and he concentrated on shooting down rockets in the far distance before they could disgorge their warheads.

* * *

Mari's presence was noticed far away as well, as the pilots on Okinawa saw the red pulses from her cannon engage incoming warheads.

"It's Lusty-chan!" Shinji shouted out.

"Finally something she's actually good at," Asuka carped. Misato, who was anxiously holding both pilots by the shoulders as she watched, prayed silently as NERV stepped up the defense. _Oh God, please don't let anything get through._

* * *

The operators and other command staff in Terminal Dogma were still frantically shouting orders and trying to shift their weapons and sensors to get ahead of the missile attack when Aoba noticed that Rei was now standing on the operations deck as well, dressed only in a white nightshirt and slippers.

"Pilot Ayanami!," he shouted, "Get down to Terminal Dogma! You'll be safe there." She ignored him and kept her attention on the large monitors above them, watching the battle as it unfolded. Aoba was too busy with the rest of the battle to glance back at her.

Unit 05's addition to the defense allowed NERV to make rapid headway into the missile wave, destroying 50% of the incoming targets without anything getting through. Patrick continued to target the rockets that were thousands of kilometers away, as his positron cannon was the longest-range weapon in the shield. After constant fire he sensed that the weapon suddenly stopped discharging and saw a flashing warning on his monitor: WEAPON MALFUNCTION.

"Damn it!," he shouted. "It jammed!"

Hyuga immediately jumped on it, quickly sending commands through his control panel. "Unit 04, release the cannon. We're sending you a new one right now." Patrick quickly detached the power cable from the cannon and tossed it aside, hoping that there wasn't someone underneath the three-ton cannon he just threw away. Twenty seconds later to his right he heard mechanical noises and the weapons conveyor revealed another positron cannon, which he again plugged in and then immediately went to shooting.

"Wave destroyed by 75%," Aoba shouted, "We're gaining on it!" Vinson started to feel more confident about their chances, but before he could give another order Hyuga quickly reported "the air defense batteries are starting to run dry! Gotemba battery reports all missiles expended! Northern laser post also reports fuses blown!"

"We have to catch up on this before they run us out," Vinson replied. He opened a private video to both pilots.

"There's no more booster missiles, they've launched everything. I want both of you to concentrate on nailing remaining warheads," Vinson ordered. "Don't let anything pass!"

"Right!," both Mari and Patrick answered back in unison as they redoubled their efforts and worked to knock out the scores of falling warheads still in the skies above them. As Vinson spoke to Patrick, the boy noticed in the background of the video screen that Rei was also in Terminal Dogma, watching the battle. He gulped and pushed back any stray thoughts, concentrating on his firing.

Mari continued her cannon barrage, shooting down every warhead the targeting computer could find. She found the intensity of the combat thrilling and screamed out with enthusiasm as her weapons continually blasted targets.

"90% of Wave destroyed!" Aoba reported. Hyuga followed with unfortunately more bad news, "South and east laser batteries blown out! Shingetsu missile battery expended! THAAD system is out!" He turned around and faced the commander. "We're down to just the EVAs!"

Both pilots had heard the message and put everything they had left into the fight, pushing themselves and their EVAs to the full limit. Patrick could hear Mari's battle cries as she tried to knock down everything in sight. It was at "97% destroyed" when her cannons finally gave out.

"Bugger!" she growled as she tried to get them to shoot again, but both positron cannons had blown out fuses and were inoperable. "Pats!" she shouted, "it's up to you!"

_No way I'm going to lose this_, Patrick projected in his mind as he started on the last round of warheads. He kept up the fire, seeing in the corner of his eye the number on the far right of the screen. "98%...99%... almost there…" It was at 99% when the screen flashed again: WEAPON MALFUNCTION, but there were still targets left on his screen.

"Incoming!" Hyuga shouted. He thought to dive under his counter but realized even that might be futile. With the Geofront's interior exposed, it would do little good to hide under a desk against an N2 exploding inside the dome. Inside the command center some staff scrambled for cover while others stood and watched, holding their breath and hoping the next few seconds weren't their last.

Patrick saw three remaining warheads on his display, all of them headed towards NERV. His brain screamed for a solution but then he remembered that Rei was down there, along with everyone else. The last puzzle piece came to him.

"Mari, get covered!" he shouted, and he lurched the EVA towards a wrecked building in front of him.

"What are you doing?" Mari shouted back but Patrick didn't answer her. Climbing up the tower like a monkey, Unit 04 reached the top and then launched herself in the air. Inside of her, Patrick closed his eyes tightly, taking a deep breath and shouting out "AT FIELD! MAXIMUM!"

As the Evangelion flew through the air it's AT field extended itself across the ruins of Tokyo-3 city and the opening of the Geofront, its geometric hexagonal patterns visible in the moonlight as it spread out through the lower sky. A second later, three N2 warheads dove into the field and exploded.

The nuclear warheads detonated, but instead of exploding on top of the GeoFront their energy was arrested by the AT field, which then began to compress towards the EVA. The field began to shrink as it was charged with energy and radioactivity.

"The EVA caught the bombs!" Hyuga exclaimed. "He's folding the explosion into the AT field!"

"What will that do to the EVA?" Vinson asked.

Both Hyuga and Aoba looked at each other and then back at the commander. "AT fields are strong," Aoba said, "but three bombs with that much focused energy…"

Above the sky over Tokyo-3, Unit 04's AT field contracted onto itself, and the Evangelion began to glow with a bright, radiating light. Arms outstretched, it appeared as if a golden cross had appeared over the GeoFront.

Inside the entry plug, Patrick closed his eyes tightly in fear as he waited for the energy to penetrate into the entry plug. _I'm sorry Rei, I guess I just hoped you'd understand. All I ever think about is you. Please, at least you go on, and do what you want to do…_

A half-second later he felt searing heat as the force wave of the nuclear explosions was felt through the plug. Patrick felt his skin burning. He screamed in agony.

"Major damage to the EVA!" Hyuga reported. "Pilot's life signs are dropping rapidly!" The pilot's screams were heard on the speakers in Central Dogma, and then suddenly went silent.

Rei gasped, watching the whole event on the holographic screen as she stood on the controller's deck. "FORRESTAL-KUN!" she screamed as she saw the EVA's glow begin to recede and start to plummet to the ground.

"Eject entry plug!" Vinson ordered. Hyuga quickly hit the eject button and the back of Unit 04 slid open while it fell down. Rockets burst as the white entry plug blasted out.

"Patrick!" Mari called out as she saw Unit 04 land on the ground with a giant thud, bouncing off buildings as it came down among the city ruins. The entry plug shot up into the air about a thousand feet, and then popped a parachute out of one end. Mari quickly ran Unit 05 over to where the plug was drifting.

"Captain Aoba." Vinson barked out, 'any more leakers?"

"No, sir," he replied. "The threat board is clear." The feeling in the control room was not one of relief, but of worry and concern, as they had all watched as Unit 04 had taken the hit meant for them. Everyone in the room was silently watching the giant video as the screen showed the entry plug drifted to the ground. It was still smoldering from the heat of the blast.

"Combat SAR, pilot recovery immediately!" the admiral ordered.

"Already on the way out," Hyuga reported, as he had given the signal already a minute before.

* * *

Unit 04's entry plug landed on the eastern shore of Lake Ashi, a kilometer from the GeoFront and just on the edge of the lake itself. Mari's EVA was the first to reach it. Quickly popping out of the pushed-out entry plug, Mari grabbed onto the rope ladder that felt out the plug door when it opened, and then jumped half the distance to the ground. Landing with a thud, she picked herself back up and ran towards Patrick's capsule, pulling off and tossing aside her VR helmet on the way.

She reached the ejected plug and right away noticed how hot it was, even without touching it. Reaching for the eject handle, Mari held it for several seconds and tried to pull it open, but was unable to budge it before her hands felt about to burn from the heat. Hearing helicopter noises she looked behind her and saw an Alliance Blackhawk helicopter dropping down on the shoreline. Wellington had already jumped out when it was close to the ground, and sprinted towards the entry plug.

Mari tried again on the handle, using all of her might to pull it forward. As soon as she arrived Wellington joined her, and they both pulled on it until the handle gave way and they spun it until it unlocked. The officer then ripped the door open and they both quickly backed off as the encapsulated heat in the entry plug escaped along with superheated LCL. It felt like a furnace inside.

"Pats? Pats! Are you alright?" Mari called into the opening. "Forrestal," Wellington shouted, "we're coming in!" First the officer and then Mari entered the plug, wading through the LCL. As the rushed through the liquid they both saw a body hunched over the entry plug seat and not moving. They both moved to where Patrick was seated and pulled him upwards. What they saw gave them both a fright, with Mari loudly gasping.

"Oh, bloody hell," Wellington said.


	14. Chapter 13: Sharing the Burdens

The emergency surgery room at the NERV hospital was on the sixth floor. Standing in front of the elevator doors was Rei, who had quickly ran from Terminal Dogma to the hospital once she saw what had happened. There she waited until Patrick arrived.

The doors opened and out came a gurney being pushed by Wellington and a NERV Medic. Still wearing his plug suit, Patrick was lying on the gurney face up as another medic was running along side and squeezed clear burn healing gel on his face. Next to him was Mari, holding on to his left hand and trying to coax Patrick. "Come on, Pats, hang in there! You're going to be alright."

As the gurney rolled fast to the surgery room on the other end of the hall, Rei ran alongside of it. Looking at Patrick's face she held her breath in shock: the entirety of his face was either red or black, and much it was black. He had suffered third-degree burn wounds as a result of the heat shock of the N2s moving through the entry plug.

"Forrestal-kun," she said as she moved along side of him. Barely conscious, Patrick heard her voice and turned to the right side.

"Rei," he said weakly. She didn't say anything in return but instead took his hand as they approach the operating room.

"Rei, I'm sorry," he mumbled, "I'm so sorry. I didn't want…I didn't mean for you to hate me."

She didn't know how to respond. "But I…I…I do not _hate_ you! I..."

Delirious from the trauma and the painkillers he was already injected with, Patrick mumbled something else she couldn't understand. They then reached the operating room and the medics pushed the gurney inside, forcing Rei and Mari to let go of him as he went into surgery. As the doors closed Rei could see a glimpse of a group of doctors waiting on the other side.

She stood at the doorway as Mari stood alongside of her. Turning to the other pilot, Rei's face wore an expression of worry and desperation. She was as close to crying as Mari had ever seen her be. Mari put her arm around her shoulder and pulled Rei towards her, trying to be comforting.

"Don't worry about him," she told the other girl as she gave a broken smile. "He'll pull through! He seems to have the devil's own luck with this sort of thing." Rei didn't at feel reassured and just looked at the doors of the operating room in silence.

_His face…it was the one thing I liked the most about him._

In the surgery the Alliance's chief surgeon, a military doctor with decades of experience, looked over his new and most important subject.

"Third degree on the whole face," he told the others in the room, observing the damage. "Much of it is radiation-induced. Infection's already setting in. There's a ton of necrotic tissue all over, we're going to have to debride all of it quickly and get it cleaned up."

By this point Patrick was completely unconscious, and his vital signs continued to drop. Nurses cut open his plug suit with specially designed tools as others gave him an IV drip and continued to apply gel to his face.

Another door swung open and another man entered the room also dressed in a surgical gown, mask and gloves.

"Hey," the senior physician called out to the unannounced entry, "we've got this room already!"

"I'm Foch," the new doctor replied. In his right hand he carried a glass container filled with LCL and what looked like shreds of tissue.

Without further comment Dr. Foch approached the table and studied Patrick's severely burned face. "How were you planning on doing the skin grafts?" he asked the other surgeon. Before he could answer an alarm sounded.

"He's coding," a nurse replied. "Going into cardiac arrest!"

"I'm not sure we're even going to get that far," the surgeon said. Other doctors and staff in the room started a defibrillator on Patrick.

"Get him stable," Foch challenged him, "I'm going to use these on the burned areas." He pointed to the glass container with LCL.  
"What are those?"

"It's recovered skin tissue from the cadavers of the First Child downstairs," Foch told him.

The Alliance's chief surgeon was important enough to know what Foch was talking about. "Are you crazy? That'll have phase-shifted matter. You don't know what that will do him!"

The scientist brushed the criticism aside. "That boy spends nearly every day drenched in LCL. If that doesn't harm him, then this sure won't."

The surgeon was still annoyed. "You're experimenting on my patient," he retorted. Foch looked on as the rest of the staff worked to get Patrick's heartbeat back. "What other chance does he have, doctor?"

* * *

Patrick sensed himself floating in some sort of sea. He just seemed to drift along, feeling numb in all of his limbs. The boy could see above him and saw the nighttime sky, filled with stars. As he floated, he saw nothing else other than sea and sky. Time seemed to just stand still as he remained there under the water. His mind went blank, unsure of when he got here or where he had come from.

From underneath him something approached him in the water. Unable to move himself, he found his body slowly being drawn towards whoever it was that swam towards him.

He felt arms around his body and he looked up at the face of who was now holding him. A woman's body, beautifully naked, now embraced him in her arms. For a moment he saw the face and thought of Rei, but then realized this wasn't quite her. Similar, but not the same. He thought to say something but he couldn't move his lips or make any sound.

The woman looked at him with soft eyes and a gentle smile. She said nothing but he heard a voice inside his head, speaking to him.

"So restless a spirit, yet despite all things you press forward in hope," her voice said to him. "All is not lost. Come, let your spirit free. Rest here in my bosom." Patrick felt himself let go of any other feelings and closed his eyes, as the lady in the lake gently pressed his face against her breasts.

* * *

Patrick slowly awoke later, lying in a hospital bed. Groggy from painkillers, he tilted his head to the side and tried to focus on what was in the room. Through the eye holes of his face bandage it took him a minute to see the smiling face of Mari, wearing a green and lavender minidress, sitting next to him. The expression on her face looked greatly relieved.

"Welcome back!" she said.

Patrick couldn't come up with words at first, but then let his mind fall in place for a bit and looked at Mari. "Lusty?" he said weakly, his voice muffled.

"Yes?"

"Please promise me…promise me you won't break my nose again, will you?"

She beamed with the answer. "Brilliant! You've still got your sense of humor!"

His energy coming back to him slowly, he looked at the chair next to Mari and saw a neat pile of three books sitting on it. Mari saw him focus on the empty seat and filled in the rest for him. "She's been there for the last two days, ever since they brought you out of the LCL chamber," Mari said of Rei. "She even slept in here last night. The only reason she's not here now is that Shinji and Asuka just returned."

"How long?" Patrick asked.

"Four days. You spent two of them in Terminal Dogma, in some sort of therapy Dr. Foch was doing. They brought you back up here afterward."

"Did we win?" He asked. He had thought it was an obvious answer: they were still here.

"Yes," she said. "Thanks to you nothing got through."

"And my EVA?"

"Heavily damaged but nothing that can't be fixed, I'm told."

_Well, that's a relief._ "What else?"

Mari looked a bit reluctant at first. "I think the doctors will tell you everything else," she said. Patrick wondered what she meant by that but then he moved his hand to feel the bandage on his head and noticed that it covered his entire face and most of his head. The portion that covered his face was thick and compressed against his skin.

_What happened?_ He wondered. He remembered being in the plug and there was a sudden sharp pain as his face twitched. _There was this huge blast. The AT field could take most of it but then…_

As Patrick was feeling the bandage on his face the other three pilots entered the room. Rei entered first, dressed in a white blouse and plaid skirt, and then Shinji and Asuka, both wearing t-shirts and shorts. They looked tired but happy.

"Patrick!" Shinji exclaimed on seeing him. "Are you alright?"

"I think so," he said, trying to pull himself to sit up in bed. His entire body felt sore and out of energy. "I just woke up, actually."

He noticed that the others looked at him with some trepidation. Rei stood by them with her serious expression, saying nothing. Patrick tried to make eye contact with her but she gave no reaction.

Shinji tried to smile but it looked forced, and uncomfortable. "Is it painful for you?" he finally asked. Asuka elbowed him after he said that and Shinji silently protested to her. His injury was clearly something she didn't want to bring up.

"Uh, no, I'm pretty loaded with whatever meds they've got." Patrick pointed to the IV plugged into his arm.

Before Shinji could say anything further Misato now stepped into the room. She was wearing her red NERV jacket along with a camouflage uniform. "Hello, Patrick!" she said cheerfully at first, then she too guarded herself once she saw Patrick's bandages. Patrick was getting nervous with everyone's reactions. "Hi, Misato."

"I saw the action report about what happened. Good job! Both of you!" she motioned to Mari.

"I guess I wasn't thinking," Patrick murmured.

"A lot of people were saved because of what you two did. Maybe it wasn't fighting Angels but it was good enough."

"Thanks," Mari said. "Now maybe they'll give me real arms for my EVA." Misato smiled at her humored response but no one laughed. The mood in the room was just too hesitant. "We'll work out something for both of you," Misato said. "In the meantime Patrick please get lots of rest."

"OK," he replied. He was trying to keep his spirit up but the worries about his injuries grew. _Why are they so nervous when they look at me? What really happened?_

Dr. Foch entered and promptly asked everyone to leave the room. Misato and all the other children did so, wishing Patrick well but also still giving him worried looks. Rei was the last to leave, saying nothing to him but instead giving him a long, concerned glance. Patrick just waved at her with his hand as she walked slowly out.

After the group exited Foch closed the door and opened up a bag that contained surgical tools. He then took an educated look at Patrick's bandages, peering inside to see the extent of his remaining wounds.

"Doctor," Patrick asked hesitantly, "am I OK?"

"We're about to find out," Foch replied. "Do you feel anything from your face?"

"Uh, no, not really. It's just kind of numb and icy."

"There's a cold compress on top, that's probably where the iciness comes from. Now," the doctor said while holding a pair of surgical scissors in his hand, "I'll cut this open for a bit and let's see how we did."

As the doctor cut around the bandages Patrick was silent, trying to focus only on breathing and not panicking. Thoughts of the resulting injuries he might have suffered started parading in his mind. He had seen what third degree burns looked like and how it made a person's face look like a Halloween mask, the discolorations and scars never really being healed like the way it was before. The boy felt his hand shaking, which was also noticed by Foch.

"Be brave, son. You're lucky to even be alive, you should appreciate that."

Patrick nodded and Foch continued to cut the bandages, loosening up the mummy-like swarm of cloth and fabric tied up around his head. After he cut the straps Foch pulled out the cold mask, which was painful as it stuck to his face a bit. Only then was Patrick's face exposed. Upon taking off the mask Foch saw what was underneath and let out a small gasp. "_Mon dieu!_"

"What?" Patrick asked him, "How is it?" He was afraid of the answer.

The scientist studied his face, using another tool to poke around the skin of the face from forehead to chin. The boy waited anxiously, hoping for a sign, praying for a good one.

"Incredible," Foch concluded. "It worked perfectly."

"What did?!" Patrick asked, now practically shouting.

Foch didn't reply just yet, but pulled out his data tablet and turned on the forward-facing camera. He pointed it at Patrick, who then saw in the screen a complete image of his whole, entire face.

"Oh my God!" Patrick said as he saw the image. He carefully touched his face, looking at the screen image as he did so.

"Complete resolution," the doctor said. "Amazing, full regeneration of damaged tissue and integration with your existing skin as well."

Patrick breathed a huge sigh of relief: he still looked like himself. "Are these skin grafts?" he asked Foch.

"You could say that," he said. "Do you notice any differences?"

"Not really," Patrick answered, still amazed at the recovery of his wounds. "It just seems a little pale, that's all. Not to mention it's really smooth!"

"Good," Foch said. "You've made medical history, my boy. Now listen carefully, as there's going to be some not small lifestyle changes for you…"

* * *

In the next few days Patrick spent the time in the hospital recovering from his injuries. While his face was completely healed, his body was still damaged from radiation and he needed medication to mend. After Dr. Foch cleared it, he was moved from an ICU ward to a private room and then spent the following time period catching up. To Patrick of course, that meant puzzling and at his request the hospital staff had provided him with several jigsaw and other types of puzzles to do while in the room, some of which proved quite challenging to him. With his mind taken up by his trivial pursuits and with ample rest Patrick felt quite refreshed after a few days.

He received a number of visitors while in the hospital. Not long after his face was uncovered Admiral Vinson came to see him, offering congratulations and otherwise checking on his condition. Mari dropped in several times, especially happy now as her leg cast was finally removed and even more so as EVA-05 had finally been fully rebuilt. The unit now had proper arms and soon would have an S2 engine of its own. Misato and the other pilots came as well during the next few days, keeping him updated on events outside. The others also told him that the Alliance had gone after the submarines that had launched the attack on Tokyo-3 with a vengeance, Admiral Gato and his fleet had hunted down each ship and destroyed it. With the last two Harpies gone and with the missile threat countered, the mood among the pilots was that things were moving along well, and that there probably wasn't any threat that they couldn't face.

Later in the evenings when it was quieter Patrick had another visitor. Rei would come every night at 7:30 bearing a teapot and two cups, and they would sit and talk for a while. Sometimes Patrick asked Rei to try her hand at one of his puzzles and found that she was quite good at solving any of them. She also brought books and offered them to Patrick to read, which he did in earnest. In between puzzling and reading together they would talk about small matters, neither one of them bringing up what had happened in Terminal Dogma the night before the attack.

After four days Dr. Foch released Patrick from the NERV hospital and he returned to the pilot suites. As the Alliance had made serious ground in the last few days against SEELE, Mari's EVA was now fully operational, and the Alliance had further strengthened its' defenses around Tokyo-3, Misato asked Commander Vinson if he would allow a couple of days leave for the children. While this was being discussed, a massive cold front arrived in central and eastern Japan, bringing unusually low temperatures to all of the surrounding areas. The weather pattern was significant: except for places of high altitude like Mt. Fuji, it had not widely snowed in Japan since Second Impact and now suddenly there was snow in many parts of the country.

Seeing snow in the mountains and hearing about a possible vacation got Asuka highly motivated, enough to beg Misato and other adults about a snowbound holiday. Persuaded it would be good for pilot morale (and increasingly annoyed by Asuka's hounding), Commander Vinson allowed for four of the pilots to go on a trip to the other side of Mount Fuji with Misato and Kaji. Mari, by her own request, would remain at Tokyo-3 with the newly rebuilt EVA-05.

* * *

_Mt Fuji_

The blue Land Cruiser climbed up into the mountains, driving uphill along a windy road bordered by increasing amounts of snow. Sitting in the front passenger seat and taking in the scenery was Asuka, who had her hands to the glass as she watched the fir trees and patches of snow go by.

"It's so pretty!" Asuka exclaimed as she looked at their horizons. "Look, it's still coming down!" She pointed out the window as small snowflakes fell all around them.

"Are we very high up?" Shinji asked, sitting in the back seat of the SUV along with Patrick and Rei. "I've never seen so much snow, and so close! Usually it's just high up in the mountains."

"The snow altitude level has dropped significantly as of late ," Kaji replied white driving. "We're only up 1200 meters above sea level. There will be much more than this where we're headed."

Shinji turned to Rei, who was sitting next to him. "Have you ever seen snow before?"

"Never," she replied.

"I've only seen it from the distance, never touched it at all. How about you, Patrick?"

Patrick was gazing out the other window. So much of the scenery here had reminded him of his childhood home in the California mountains. "We were high up enough to get some snow occasionally. Sometimes you could even play in it. But this!" he motioned out the window "this is NICE!"

Kaji was correct in that there was a lot more snow, so much so that the mountains were blanketed white when they got off the main road and traveled through a variety of side roads. On the way there he stopped a couple of times to speak into a hand-held communicator. At one crossroads he signaled a security officer with a flashlight and got several flashes in response, then took the SUV completely off the road and drove up part of an incline for several minutes through a forest before reaching another, much smaller trail. After another twenty minutes of driving only then did he reach a destination: a wooden cabin, with two other SUVs and two snowmobiles parked in front.

The Land Cruiser stopped next to the other vehicles, and Kaji got out to unload the children's luggage out of the back hatch. All four of them clamored out, dressed in new parkas, cold-weather pants, and snow boots bought just for the trip. Opening the cabin door was Misato, who had come ahead to prepare security at the mountain chalet. Like the pilots she too wore cold weather apparel.

"Hey, you made it!" she greeted the group as they all stood outside the cabin and looked around. All around them were the fir trees of a forest, all of them covered with beautiful white snow. It was like nothing they had ever seen. "Wow!" Shinji said, taking it all in.

Rei also took a deep breath and looked around, listening for the new and unique sounds of the forest. As the light snow flurry continued, she saw snowflakes floating down right in front of her. Curious, she stuck her tongue out and caught one on the tip. It tasted cool and watery as it splashed on her tongue.

"What are you sticking out your tongue for," said Asuka, annoyed at her.

"I read about it," Rei replied calmly. "Children from ages ago would feel for the snowflakes with their tongue."

Having watched Rei, Shinji also stuck his tongue out and caught a snowflake, nodding to her in approval.

"Stupid," Asuka said. "It's just water." She wandered around the cabin as she took a further look at their surroundings. Patrick was already at the far edge of the chalet, and taping his feet in the fresh snow. "What's with you?"

"Powder. This stuff is fresh, nice and thick." Looking out beyond the cabin, they both saw it was on the upwards part of a slope, the forest continued to the downward right of the cabin. Right below the cabin was a wide, gentle bank of snow over two hundred meters in length, with banks of snow that continued down the mountain. _Perfect for going downhill, really fast_. Patrick had a large grin on his face.

Both Asuka and Patrick ran back to the SUV where Kaji had just finished bringing out the rest of the luggage. "Misato! Misato!" Patrick exclaimed, "do you have snowboards in there?"

"I haven't had time to look for that yet as we're still trying to set everything up." She then addressed all the pilots. "Now, everyone go inside for now."

"What?! We just _got_ here!" cried Asuka, clearly disappointed. Everyone else had the same expression, as they wanted to explore their new surroundings.

"This place's not fully secure yet," Kaji explained. "We need to check the surrounding area for any possible threats. Once that's done we'll let you out."

"Come on, kids, let's get in!" Misato herded the pilots into the cabin as the boys grabbed the luggage and brought them inside. Kaji remained outside, speaking with other men that were part of the security detail.

Inside the cabin smelled old and musty, and felt nearly as cold as the outside. The furnishings looked like they hadn't been used in decades, and there were cobwebs in some corners. The pilots stood in the living room, which had an old shabby couch and a fireplace in front.

"This place is a dump!" Asuka protested as she blew dust off the couch. "We're going to stay here?!"

"Well, it needs a little fixing up," Misato told her, "but it looks just nice and cozy to me."

The redhead noticed the lack of electrical sockets in the cabin. "Please don't tell me there isn't any power in this place, either?"

"We have a generator, but no, there's no TV or electric heaters." The colonel grabbed a lamp and lit it with a match. "We do it the old-fashioned way here." Asuka was not impressed, as what she had hoped for in a fun-yet-comfortable holiday no longer seemed feasible. "You call this a vacation?! We're going to freeze to death!"

"No, we're not," her superior answered, annoyed at the carping. "Now stop griping and let's get cleaned up first. Shinji, kitchen! Rei, help him."

"Yes, ma'am" Shinji said as they both moved into the kitchen next door. Misato turned to the other two. "Patrick?"

"Yes, colonel?"

"Having lived in the mountains, you're experienced in this sort of thing. Can you get that fireplace started?"

He smiled, finally feeling he was back in his element. "I can do better than that. I can get this whole cabin nice and warm."

"Let's see it then, get what you need. If you need firewood I saw a pile outside. Asuka, find a broom and help me clean up the bedrooms."  
"Hey! I'm a pilot, not a chambermaid!" Asuka protested.

Misato found a broom herself and quickly banged Asuka on the head with it. "I can't spare the manpower to clean up for you, all the others are outside securing the area. Not another word. Go!" The officer threw the broom at Asuka, who caught it and spun it around like a weapon, still miffed at being assigned manual labor. Sneering at Misato, she nonetheless went to work cleaning up.

Patrick was good at his word and not only managed to get a rolling fire in the fireplace in short order, but through use of ventilation quickly brought warmth to the whole cabin. He thought the chalet was not unlike his uncle's cabin on Big Bear, if perhaps the rooms were a little smaller.

Unfortunately the security team returned only after night fell, so the children were unable to get outside to play during the day. Shinji managed to get enough of the kitchen cleaned up to at least get a meal of instant ramen for everyone, and the group of them had sat in the now warm cabin slurping their noodles and talking about what tomorrow would hopefully would bring.

In the midst of cleaning up after dinner Patrick noticed that Rei had slipped away. After searching for a bit he found her: she had gone to the outside ledge of the chalet, where a wooden porch had afforded a very scenic view of the forest and snow-covered slopes around them.

Patrick opened the porch door and saw Rei sitting on the ledge, her feet dangling in the air. Like everyone else she had removed her snow outfit once the cabin was warmed up, and now wore a white patterned sweater with a plaid skirt over black leggings and her boots. A blue parka kept her warm against the cold night air. He carefully closed the porch door and set down a tray next to her, on which was a thermos and two ceramic cups. Sitting down next to her he carefully filled each of the two cups with the contents of the thermos and handed one to Rei.

Rei slowly sipped from the cup and then tasted the drink in her mouth. "Instant green tea," she correctly analyzed.

"It's all they had up here."

"It's good."

They both sat there for a while, observing the wilderness below them and listening to the wind as it blew through the trees. Patrick closed his eyes and let his mind go, feeling out the world around him. He was able to pick up that there were animals about, probably small ones that were scurrying to find better shelter against the sudden cold, or that were alert to the presence of humans. Thinking that somehow they were being watched, he opened his eyes again and saw in the far distance a very small pairs of eyes trained on them.

"Oh, a fox," Patrick said softly.

"He's been watching us for a while," Rei said.

"This is his territory, we're the intruders here," he observed. "Need to be sure the trash is tied up, otherwise they get into it when you're not looking."

"Can they live with humans?" Rei asked him.

The boy was thoughtful about his reply. "They adapt to you and vice versa. If you get them when they're little, you can try to train them as a pet. I saw a man once who had three raccoons in his cabin, all gotten when they were pups. But it's not the same as having a dog or something, the instinct to run wild is just too strong with them."

"They want to be free."

"But they still like your food and your shelter," Patrick said. "And, if you can make it work out they'll hunt down smaller prey like mice around your place in return for it. If you respect them, you can work out a relationship." Rei just nodded, sipping on her tea and watching the fox turn from them and jog back into the forest.

Patrick saw Rei in the moonlight, seeing how her face was illuminated against the shadows by the flickering of an oil lamp nearby. Steam escaped her small lips as she silently breathed in the night air. _Put her in any environment_, he thought, _and she's still just as beautiful, childlike and gentle._

"Did they tell you how they saved my face?" he asked her.

"It was a therapy from Dr. Foch," she replied.

"There's more to it. Here," he motioned to her, "touch it."

Rei removed her hand from her mitten and gently brushed the right side of Patrick's cheek. She blinked her eyes several times as she mentally worked to make the connection he was hinting at.

"Is that skin familiar at all?"

Her eyebrows went up in discovery. "It feels like my own."  
"It is yours," he said. "It's from skin grafts from one of your…other selves downstairs."

Rei mused as the answer. "I always wondered if the organs would be compatible with other humans."

"It worked like a charm," Patrick told her, "but not without a price," He reached into his parka and pulled out a small black zipper case. The boy unzipped it and showed her the syringe inside. Rei looked inside the chamber of the syringe and saw the orange liquid seemed to glow in the lamplight. She recognized it as the same LCL stabilizer as her own.

"Unlike you I only need a small dose, like a single cc, but I still need it every week from now on or I don't live." The girl reacted in shock, her face becoming hard in regret.

"I'm sorry," she told him.

"I'm not," he replied, "because now I really can see things from your own point of view." Patrick looked at her as he said that, but Rei turned away. To her, the unique burden of her life was her own: she had never anticipated anyone ever wanting to share it.

"Don't ever think that you're incompatible," Patrick told her, suddenly gaining a confidence he hadn't really felt with Rei before. "Don't think that somehow, you're so different that no one can understand you, no one can feel what you feel. I won't say that I could ever totally know you, but if I really try, I _can_ put myself in your shoes, I can be part of the same song that you are."

He watched her in the moonlight as she thought about what he said. Rei pulled her legs up off the ledge and folded them in front of her, hugging her legs and placing her head against them as she looked at Patrick.

"Rei," he asked, almost whispering, "do you really want to be lonely the rest of your life?"

Her eyes looked at him with sadness. "No," she said softly.

"Then that's all I need to know."

Forrestal noticed that he had moved closer to Rei as they had talked, and that their faces were now very close together. He could see the emotion in her eyes, the pervasive sense of loss she always seemed to carry with her but also a feeling of longing, of hoping that there was something else for her besides what she knew. _It's not just that she's my missing piece_, Patrick thought to himself, _but maybe I'm also hers._

The boy leaned in closer to her, feeling the warm air come out of her small lips. Rei met his glance. The moonlight seemed to fade, the wind became softer, and there was nothing left of the world except the two of them sitting on the wooden ledge. He leaned in just a little closer and she closed her eyes, not knowing what to expect next.

"Uh, Hi!"

Both of the children turned suddenly towards the cabin door and saw Shinji in the doorway. He had a surprised look on his face, as he has just interrupted something important. "Um, Misato's worried that it's getting too cold outside," he said nervously. "Do you guys want to come in now?"

Both Patrick and Rei looked at each other. Patrick could feel his face flush. In the light of the doorway he could see Rei's cheeks as they turned cherry red in embarrassment.

"Sure, we'll be right in," Patrick answered. Before he could do anything further Rei had already picked herself off the ledge and moved quickly through the door, pushing Shinji aside in her haste to get back inside. Forrestal got up off the ledge himself and then walked inside as Shinji closed the door, also looking a little embarrassed for his intrusion. Once inside the cabin Patrick didn't try to chase after Rei. He didn't have to anymore.

* * *

_SEELE-2_

Chairman Keel was wheeled down to a sub-level of the new SEELE fortress, along with several others of the committee who were now hiding out in the underground lair. Constructed with security in mind and not aesthetics, the deeper levels of the base appeared as layers and layers of dull grey concrete interlaced with steel. A mechanically clunky elevator took then the final distance to their destination.

Deep within the base a new laboratory was hastily constructed for SEELE's ends. Its entire purpose was to contain a single body and soul upon whom the committee now wholly depended for their redoubt to succeed.

Dimly lit, the laboratory was partly filled with computers, sensors, and environmental equipment of all kinds. At the far end of it was a Plexiglas tube filled with glowing orange LCL, and inside of that tube was what appeared to be a teenaged boy, sleeping as he floated in the liquid. As the old men approached the tube the boy's red eyes flicked open. He spoke to the man in the wheelchair.

"Why have you awoken me?"

"The time has come to fulfill your purpose," Keel replied.

The boy looked at himself in the tube. "What is the meaning of placing me in this body?"

"A necessary element," Keel told him. "This body is both human and Angel, and is the only way we can contain you."

"I should hope the owner will not come looking for it!"

"He will not," the older man said. "His soul was destroyed in the catastrophe that has brought us here." He moved his wheel chair closer to the tube. "As for you, we can allow you to reach your destiny of reuniting with that from which you were split off long ago. We only ask that you fulfill the role in the trap that we are now constructing, and that you indulge yourself as a human for the time being."

"What benefit do you receive if I do this?" the boy asked.

"The fulfillment of the dreams of millenniums ago, of men who would become as God is."

The boy scoffed. "You get the better end of this bargain, then."

"If we fail then the world will disintegrate into nothing and all will be lost, including you. If we succeed, all will come together for a higher purpose."

Looking around the room with a bemused look on this face, the boy considered the old man's proposal. "It seems I have nothing better to do than this in any case," he replied. "I should find the experience of being human _humorous_. I will agree to it."

The chairman breathed a labored sigh. "Then release him," he ordered others in the room, "and bring him to the sleeping giant that we have also labored to prepare." The LCL emptied out from the bottom of the tube and it opened a moment later, as the body of a pale, naked teenaged boy with silver hair took his first steps.


	15. Chapter 14: Children Again

_Mt. Fuji_

The following morning the children woke up with the anticipation of finally exploring their winter wonderland outside the cabin, and they were not disappointed: the weather had cleared out the storms but it was still cold outside, and the slopes and valleys around the little cabin were all covered in white, powdery goodness.

Dressed in their snow gear the four children all went out quickly through the front door. Misato didn't join them, but would watch from inside the chalet instead. "Don't stray too far from the cabin," she called out as they left.

Once the pilots went out Misato walked back inside and grabbed PenPen, who had spent most of the last day inside his portable cooler or in Misato's bedroom in the cabin. She pulled him by the wings and brought him outside the front door, and then carefully removed the coolant pack strapped around his neck. With a gentle pat she shoved him forward and into the snow-covered ground in front of the cabin.

Despite being a penguin PenPen was completely unacquainted with snow, as he was hatched and raised in a laboratory far away from anyplace cold. At first the bird took hesitant steps into the snowy ground, then panicked and fled back towards the cabin.

Misato saw the bird head back and promptly slammed the door in his face: it was tough love, she knew, but necessary to get her roommate accustomed to the new climate. PenPen furiously pounded on the cabin door in order to be let back in, squawking loudly as he did so. After a couple of minutes of prodding and crying to go back inside to no avail, the little bird gave up with a sad wail and then started to wonder aimlessly around the cabin.

On the other side, Patrick and the two girls looked down the steep slope below the chalet. Coming up from behind was Shinji, who was dragging a box behind him. "Here's what we could find," he said, breathless from hauling over the cargo.

Asuka looked inside the large box and found a snowboard. It was old and scratched up, but still looked very serviceable. After feeling the weight she immediately placed it on the snow and slid her boots into the straps.

"Do you even know how to use that?" Shinji asked her.

She looked at him with a smug look on her face. "_Baka_ Shinji! It's simple. How hard could it possibly be?" Asuka pushed off and immediately plunged down the slope, screaming along the way. After a few seconds the three of them heard a distant "thump" followed by anguished high-pitched cries of profanity. Both of the boys winced as they caught an earful from the fallen Asuka.

"Will she be OK?" Patrick asked Shinji.

"Not until she can beat everyone at doing this," he said with a knowing look on his face.

Patrick grabbed the other snowboard inside the large box and checked the bottom to make sure it was smooth, without flaws or cracks. Satisfied, he carefully placed it on the ground and strapped himself in. Taking a deep breath, he felt the cool mountain air as his eyes excitedly looked down the slope. Since Second Impact his old home never had that much snow for very long. To him, boarding this would feel like an open bar to a drunk.

Rei saw him as he stood next to her and grinned broadly. In the time she had known Patrick Forrestal she had never seen him so happy as now.

"Wish me luck!" he said to her as he quickly kissed her on the cheek and then pushed himself off the edge of the slope. Placing her glove to her cheek, Rei watched him go down, picking up speed as he gleefully shouted and shredded his way down the slope. She couldn't help but smile at it all.

"Ayanami!" Shinji called to Rei, and she turned around. Shinji was holding a large, wooden, old-fashioned sled in his hands. "Do you want to try it?" he asked her. Her eyes went wide and she nodded cheerfully.

The group of them spent the next few hours going up and down the hill. Despite her initial defeats Asuka determinedly kept at the snowboard and after a few tries was indeed able to properly shred down the slope, banking and curving and launching herself in the air.

Shinji and Rei also had fun with their own sled, as the two of them would sit on it together and then go barreling down the hillside. Braking was difficult at first, and they tumbled at the bottom more than a few times. They both enjoyed the rush and unique unpredictability of sledding. Shinji felt he especially loved the experience, as he held Rei in his arms in front of him and heard her joyful squeals as they went down the slope.

PenPen had also started to get the hang of things outside. Waddling over to see the children, the bird watched as each one pushed off the edge of the slope in turn and slid down. He looked down the steep edge to watch Shinji and Rei on their sled and then suddenly felt a push as Asuka followed them down on her board. Losing his balance the penguin fell over the edge and rolled until his belly landed on a slick patch of snow. As he started to slide down the hill on his belly, if PenPen had any natural instincts left in him they clicked in at that moment. He stretched out his wings and let himself glide down the hill, cawing in excitement as he did so.

For his part after getting his balance down Patrick went about trying to tricks with the snowboard against the edges of the slope, picking up speed and then trying to flip in the air like he had seen winter athletes do on sports highlights videos. He had failed the first couple of times but then on the third try he spun off the edge of the slope and turned himself in the air. It had felt great and he didn't even mind that he had crash landed after the jump. Unfortunately Asuka was just a little too close to his landing, and he sprayed on her with snow when he came down.

"Hey, you idiot!" she shouted at him as he picked himself up off the bottom of the slope. "Watch where you're going!"

"What's the matter," Patrick teased "You can't take a little snow?"

Instead of answering back, Asuka quickly scooped up snow from the ground and tossed it at Patrick, hitting him in the face. Patrick almost immediately did the same in retaliation and then the two of them were soon pummeling each other with snowballs.

Speeding downward from another run, Shinji and Rei's sled came to a stop in between the two others at the bottom of the hill and both children found themselves in the middle of the crossfire.

"Baka," Asuka called out, "get over here!" Before Shinji could react he felt something hit him from the back and saw Patrick, his face held a sheepish grin. "Hey, are you in this or not?" he shouted at him.

Rei calmly stood and watched as Asuka continued to throw snowballs at Patrick until one hit her on the face instead. Standing there somewhat fazed, another snowball hit her as Asuka changed her target from Patrick to her.

"Rei, come over here!" Patrick shouted and the girl scurried to where he was crouching, working to scoop up more snowballs. At the same time Shinji ran over to where Asuka was standing.

"What are we doing?" Rei asked him.

"Snowball fight," Patrick said breathlessly as he worked to scoop up more snowballs.

"What is the objective?" she said with a straight face.

Patrick laughed a little. "We just keep blasting them until they give up. Are you in?" Rei nodded in reply.

"Then start building snowballs and try to hit the other side." The boy then scooped up another ball, packed it with his gloved hands, and hurled it at Asuka. The redhead managed to dodge the incoming strike and then tossed one of her own that exploded snow between Patrick and Rei.

In the next couple of minutes the two pairs of pilots each gathered up snowballs and tossed them at their opponents, while trying to avoid being hit themselves. Patrick watched as Asuka and Shinji huddled for a long moment, and then suddenly came out each tossing a flood of snowballs in coordination with each other, hitting both Patrick and Rei precisely at the same time.

_Wow, they really do fight well as a team_, Patrick observed.

"Forrestal," Rei said to him, "If you want to win, I have a suggestion."

Patrick's eyebrows went up. "Sure." Rei then whispered something into his ear. He thought about her strategy for a moment and then decided it would work. "Okay, let's do it!"

Both of them went low to the ground and quickly worked to make as many snowballs as they could, all the while being pelted in the back by their opponents across the snow drift. Patrick noticed as they made snowballs that Rei's snowballs were nearly perfectly spherical, and despite working fast she crafted each one carefully.

Across the way Shinji watched the other two as Asuka continued her barrage. "What are they doing?" he asked.

"They're going to make an assault," she replied. "Stand by for attack!"

Once they had enough firepower Rei and Patrick divided up the snowballs and got into place. "Ready?" he asked her. Rei, standing behind Patrick with two snowballs in her hands, nodded confidently.

"Charge!" Patrick shouted and then ran over to the other side as fast as he could. As he approached the others, he threw snowball after snowball at Asuka. Annoyed at being hit multiple times, she hastily grabbed snow and tossed it at Patrick as he rapidly closed the distance.

Patrick got to within three feet of Asuka and then suddenly dropped down to the ground while being pummeled by both of his opponents. As he dropped down Rei appeared from behind him: as he had approached she had followed close to him, using his larger frame to shield her petite self from being spotted. Now at nearly point-blank range, Rei took the snowball in her right hand and with all of her strength threw it straight at Asuka. The snowball hit her square in the chest, and the redhead went flying backwards. Before Shinji could react Rei took a second snowball she carried in her left hand and threw it at him. It too struck him hard and brought him straight down.

Having watched Rei's surprise attack, Patrick jumped off the ground with a resounding "YES!" He held his hand out for her in a "high five" position and she quickly hit it back, giving him a big smile of her own: their teamwork and inspiration had paid off.

Shaking off the snow from her hair, Asuka sat up off the ground. "Where the hell is an AT Field when you need it!" she shouted.

Patrick stood over her. "Looks like we got you!" he cawed.

"Oh, I have not even BEGUN to fight!" she came back. Asuka used her leg to trip up an unsuspecting Patrick, toppling him to the ground. She then clamored back up, grabbed snow and packed it in her hands. Seeing Rei close by, she shouted "CHARGE!" and then ran over to her. Snow in hand, she shoved it in Rei's face, bringing her to the ground.

Once on the ground Rei promptly countered by shoving snow in Asuka's face and rolling over, and the two of them rolled on the ground throwing snow at each other. Shinji also got into the act, and started pelting Patrick with snowballs as he got up. The other boy fought back and then they both playfully charged each other. As the children began to pummel each other in a fresh round of snowplay, PenPen wandered over to see what the fuss was. He stood by and watched as the others threw snowballs and laughed and screamed in delight.

High above them in the chalet observing all the frolics was Misato, who sat in front of a window in the kitchen keeping a careful eye on all of them. Listening carefully she could make out four distinctive voices below, all of them laughing and crying out to each other in merriment. Behind her a door opened, and she turned around to see Kaji returning from the outside. Walking inside after removing his snow boots he joined her in the kitchen.

"They seem to be having a good time."

"Oh, yeah," Misato said softly, her head turning back towards the window and the view downhill.

"They've been out a while," said Kaji. " I should probably bring them back in before they get too exhausted."

"No," she said, "just let them play a little bit longer."

"Are you sure?"

Misato turned to him and gently took his hand. Kaji saw her face: she was smiling but tears were running down her cheeks. They were the happy kind, he knew, and he had so rarely seen Misato like this.

"Ryo-kun," she said to him, "it's alright. Let them play as much as they want. Just look at them." She turned again towards the window, watching the kids below them who were joyfully wrapped up in their own little world, for the moment oblivious to everything outside of it.

"They're _children_ again!"

* * *

Early the next morning Kaji was awakened by a call on his satellite phone. He spoke in hushed tones to the receiver as Misato slowly woke up. After it ended he quickly clicked the phone shut and hurriedly got dressed.

"What is it?" Misato asked.

"One of my SEELE contacts. They've got information about their home base."

Misato knew the right question to ask. "Are they reliable?"

"Up until now they have been," Kaji said as he got his pants on. "They've been good at getting some critical information in the past. I need to play it out. They've asked me to meet them."

"Where?"

"Not far from here. There's a resort town about 20 kilometers away, I'm to meet him there."

"Convenient that he's so close to us," she commented.

Kaji paused for a moment, thinking about Misato's observation. "Be sure the children are well-covered. I'll also get word to Yoshi-kun at Tokyo-3 to keep his eyes out, just in case this isn't what it seems."

"OK," Misato said to him. She got out of bed as Kaji finished getting dressed, and wondered over to where he stood. She was wearing just a sports jersey and nothing else.

"The kids are going to hate leaving this place," she said softly as she patted him on the chest.

"They're not the only ones," Kaji replied, and the two of them kissed tenderly. She smiled at him.

"One for the road?" Misato said with a wink.

The agent smiled back at her. "Oh, I wish, but I'd better take a rain check." They kissed again, and then he left the room.

After he left Misato stood there and watched out the window as his SUV left the cabin, contemplating what the next move would indeed be.

* * *

The pilots woke up late that morning, around 10 AM. Groggy and sluggish, they each shuffled to the kitchen to get breakfast and coffee or tea. Once they were all gathered together to their great disappointment Misato confirmed they would be leaving the cabin that afternoon and also asked them to stay inside for today. She promised to make up for the truncated trip by taking them out for _shabu-shabu_ at a local _onsen_ down the road from them, on the way back to Tokyo-3.

Additionally she had also brought gifts for each of the four pilots. The two boys received handmade woolen sweaters made locally, both with patterns of flora and fauna. The two girls each received a sweater dress: Asuka's was red with a large heart pattern, while Rei's was blue with a large moon. Each girl also got matching wool pattern tights with the dress.

Trying the outfit on, Asuka felt she rather liked her dress until she saw that Rei has a very similar look. "Misato," she protested, "why the hell did you get her the same dress?"

"It's not the same one," Misato pointed out. "Rei's is a different color."

"It's still the same style," the redhead replied. "We're not freaking twins, okay?"

Misato ignored her comment. "I think they're both really cute. Don't you think so too, boys?" Both Shinji and Patrick nodded with glassy-eyed expressions that clearly meant approval.

Before an argument could ensue Misato got a call on her communicator from the outside security detail. There was an incident with the inhabitants of another cabin about a mile away and the detail leader was concerned enough to call Misato to inform her of it. She listened for a few minutes for the details and then hung up and went back into the kitchen.

"I've got an idea," she said. "Why don't you kids work together making sweets." The officer pulled out a bag and placed blocks of chocolate, marshmallows, and candies on the table. Asuka narrowed her eyes at her. "What are we supposed to do, exactly?"

"Well, I'm not sure of the exact method, but I'm pretty confident you kids can figure out how to make cookies or something with these." Before any one of them could protest the communicator sounded off and Misato again escaped to the other room.

"She's just trying to buy us off because we can't go outside," Asuka said.

"No matter," replied Shinji. "All you have to do is just melt these and mix it together."

Rei stood at the table and examined the chocolate block, looking at it as if it were a rare mineral. "You've had chocolate before, haven't you?" Patrick asked her.

"Yes," she replied. "But not this much of it. I think I may get sick again."

Misato charged back into the kitchen. "Kids, pay attention! I've got something important!" All four of them stopped what they were doing.

"There's been an incident with our security team," she told them. "I'm going out to investigate it. I'm leaving more guards here in the cabin and outside. Do not leave the cabin until I get back." She pointed at Asuka specifically. "Yes, ma'am," everyone said in reply. Misato then quickly left the cabin, putting on her snow parka and strapping on a knapsack. She grabbed a submachine gun as she walked on her way out. Shinji looked out the window and saw that she took one of the snowmobiles, starting it up and then running it down the hill at full speed.

"Great," Asuka said. "Now what do we do?"

Patrick snapped off a piece of the chocolate and popped it in his mouth. "We don't really need to cook this stuff, do we?" he spoke as he chewed.

"Whatever." The redhead left the kitchen and marched back to her bedroom.

An hour passed without any word from Misato. The kids just sat around the cabin reading or fiddling with things. Shinji heated up some tea and poured it for Rei and Patrick, while Asuka lay on the floor curled up by the waning fire. PenPen was lying on the floor next to her. Also standing in the room were two large security guards, who mostly just kept scanning outside the windows.

Asuka noticed that the fire was starting to go out, and struggled to get it back. She blew hot air and poked at it with the metal pokers, but managed to blow it out instead. "Damn," she said. "Baka, get over here." Both Shinji and Patrick walked over to the fireplace.

"You put the fire out!" Patrick exclaimed when he saw the dead fireplace.  
"It wasn't my fault," she retorted. "You didn't put enough wood on the fire."

"Fine," Patrick said, "I'll go and get some more." He was about to start out the door when he was stopped by the guards.

"Sorry, kid," one of them said. "Orders are to keep you inside."

Patrick didn't really like the idea of being cooped up on the cabin with such good, sunny weather outside. "I'm just going to go get firewood. It's, like, right next door."

"Can we get it for you?" the other guard asked.

"Uh, sure. It's all stacked towards the road out back." One of the guards went outside to go look for the firewood pile. The other stayed inside, standing in the living room.

Patrick waited for a moment until he was sure the other guard wasn't coming back right away. Motioning to the kitchen, he asked the guard. "Do you know anything about ovens? I think Rei in there was having some trouble." The other guard raised his eyebrows for a moment and then turned to go to the kitchen to check on her. When he went through the kitchen door, Patrick quickly put his finger over his lips and grabbed Shinji, taking him out the front door.

"Where the hell are you going?" Asuka asked.

"Firewood," Patrick said quickly on his way out.

Both boys stealthily went around the cabin, Patrick picking up an axe from the side of the cabin as they headed towards the forest line. From his earlier time setting up the fire in the fireplace, Patrick knew the actual firewood pile was along the edge of the forest, and not by the road where he sent the guard. He quickly walked into the forest edge with Shinji next to him.

"Why didn't you just have him get it?" Shinji asked quietly.

"Because I just wanted from fresh air," he said. "Can't stand being cooped up in there."

The two boys walked down to the woodpile, looking back behind themselves to see if they were followed. They were, in fact, but it was not by a guard. PenPen had also snuck out, and was waddling down to the woodpile with them.

"Is this place like your old home," Shinji asked him.

"It does remind me of it," Patrick replied. "Just with more snow." He sniffed at the air and took a deep breath. "I rather like this place. Hate that we're leaving today." Shinji nodded.

Patrick stopped and then faced Shinji. "Hey," he asked the other boy. "Can I ask you a sort of personal question."

"What is it?"

"Are you really okay with me going out with Rei?"

Shinji was pensive for a bit. "I never was against it."

"But, you know, I don't want to get in the way of anything between you two."

"It's not really like that with us," Shinji said.

"Actually, she talks about you a lot, " Patrick told him. "She also told me what the connection is between the two of you." Shinji was silent for a moment as Patrick looked at him. "I can only think that could get really confusing for you both."

"Maybe, " Shinji said quietly, "but I think we haven't quite figured how where we fit together. I kind of worry about her a little."

"Why?"

"Just be careful," Shinji said with concern. "Ayanami's really strong inside, stronger than all of us. But she's also got this shadow around her, like she's too afraid to be happy."

"I get it," the other boy said. "I'll be careful."

A voice called out behind them. "HEY!" Both boys turned around and saw a very annoyed security guard coming down the hill towards them. Patrick looked at Shinji and shrugged as Shinji gave him a broken smile.

* * *

The security leader inside the cabin was relieved that the two male pilots were accounted for. As the safety of the children pilots were the number one security priority for the new NERV and the Alliance he'd rather not contemplate the consequences of losing any one of them. Unfortunately he knew, kids will be kids and do things like evade their guards. It was an ongoing challenge of the job.

Looking out the window he thought he saw a flash and stepped up to the windowsill to take a closer look. Besides him there were three other guards in the immediate vicinity of the cabin, and another four spread out through the forest area within a kilometer. Enough to handle any infiltration threat, he figured. Not seeing the source of the flash outside, the team leader called into his microphone. "OWL LEADER to OWL TWO, did you see something flash outside?" He didn't hear an immediate reply.

"OWL TWO, please copy." There was still silence.

Instinctively the team leader grabbed his sub-machine gun from its shoulder harness and went for the door. "OWL LEADER TO OWL TEAM, FALL BACK ON NEST," as he opened the door. Pushing out the door he saw why OWL TWO was unable to reply to him. It was also the last thing he would ever see.

* * *

Inside the kitchen Asuka pouted around as Rei experimented with melting the chocolate inside of a frying pan on the stove.

"When the hell are they going to get back here?" Asuka said aloud. "I'm freezing."

"The stove is warm," Rei said, knowing that Asuka just wanted to complain.

The redhead walked up to Rei at the stove and stared at her until she had her attention. Rei stopped what she was doing, and met her gaze.

"You know, can't you make up your mind?" Askua accused.

"What do you mean?"

"Forrestal or Shinji, which one do you want?"

"It's not simple like that," Rei replied. "I don't feel it's a choice."

"Oh, so you play _both_ of them, then?" she shot back.

Rei turned from her and went back to the stove. "Each has a role to play, but I'm still determining where the pieces all fit in." Her answer wasn't definitive enough for Asuka, and she stepped close to Rei, almost within a few inches of her.

"What do you think you are, some kind of empress? I'd bad enough you're obsessed with being the center of attention but can't you stop playing with people's hearts?"

Rei stopped as she listened for something outside. "Soryu-chan?"

"What?!"

"The guard outside is dead," she said calmly.

At first Asuka thought to retort back but she saw Rei's eerily quiet manner and knew from months of experience being with her that she was very serious. She then quietly stepped backward from the stove and leaned against a wall, grabbing a large kitchen knife and silently sliding it out of its holder. Rei found a corner by a pantry and quietly crouched from view.

The kitchen door slowly opened and through it walked in a large man in white camouflage, his head masked by a white wool cap and goggles. He held a silenced sub-machine gun that was pointed in front of him. The soldier began to swing his gaze around the room when Asuka raised the knife in her hands and threw it at the man's head. The knife hit him on the left temple, gushing out blood as he twisted in reaction. Reflexes pulled the trigger on his SMG and it fired a burst as he collapsed down on the floor.

Asuka didn't get any chance to breathe easier. Immediately after the first soldier fell a second one entered the kitchen door, pistol in hand. On seeing Asuka he swung around and aimed the pistol at her. Years of combat training and honing razor-sharp reflexes now kicked in, as the girl quickly thrust up her foot and kicked the pistol out of the hands of the soldier. She rapidly followed her first kick with a roundhouse to the man's face and then kicked him in the chest again as he was stunned by the previous two blows.

As the intruder fell backwards Asuka rushed back to the kitchen counter to grab another knife from the knife holder. The man stopped his fall however, and pivoting on his back foot he recovered. His right hand went to the small of his back and he pulled out a second pistol. With two hands on the grip he took quick aim at Asuka, but before he could pull the trigger he felt a massive blow to his head from behind and fell unconscious. Asuka watched him go down, a new knife in her right hand as he crumbled to the floor and landed on top of the first soldier. Standing above them was Rei, holding the frying pan in her hands.

"Let's get out of here," Asuka said to Rei as they both made for the open kitchen door. They both quickly walked through but stopped when they reached the living room. Standing inside was a third soldier dressed in white, gripping an assault rifle. Seeing the two pilots the soldier swung around and aimed his rifle at both of them.

Asuka reached back with the knife and was about to throw it when Rei stepped in front of her. She saw a flash from the muzzle of the rifle as bright geometric patterns filled the air all around the two girls. None of the bullets reached them, instead they ricocheted from the patterns and bounced around the cabin.

_An AT Field_, Asuka realized. _The First can still be an Angel if she wants to be._

Several loud cracks were heard to the right outside the cabin and the soldier swung around to his left. Before he could fire three bright red blossoms appeared on his white parka and he immediately fell backwards. Both girls turned to the door and saw another man run through it, pistol in hand. It was Kaji.


	16. Chapter 15: Infiltration

While walking the two boys back to the cabin, their guard heard the squad leader call "Fall Back" on the radio. The soldier quickly acknowledged the order but then heard no reply from his sergeant. Then a moment later sounds of gunfire sounded from the cabin.

The soldier readied his assault rifle and shouted at Shinji and Patrick. "You two, get behind a tree," he ordered as he pointed towards inside the woods. "Now!" Both boys hurriedly complied, running a few more meters into the forest and finding a large tree trunk to hide behind.

The sentry called into his radio as he scanned his surroundings. "OWL THREE TO OWL ONE, come in. OWL ONE?" Movement to his right caught his eye and he saw two man-sized shapes crawl up off the ground. Reacting quickly he held up his rifle and fired a burst at the first man that took him down, but the second intruder also had a rifle and fired at the sentry upon being spotted. Owl Three went down after two three-round bursts entered his chest.

From behind the large tree both of the boys saw the guard go down. "Oh, Shit," Patrick said. They swung back behind the tree and looked at each other, each of them sensing the extreme danger of the situation.

"Do you have your satellite phone?" Patrick whispered to Shinji. The other boy checked his pockets and then a shocked look came on his face. "No, I left it in the cabin."

_Oh please God I don't want to go out like this._ The American boy swallowed hard and tried to be absolutely still, trying to control the sound of his breathing. He could hear the footsteps of the intruder in the snow, and he knew that the man was approaching where they were. "OK, what now?" he asked Shinji.

"Misato will come," he whispered back as he began to clutch himself in fear. "She_ has_ to."

Patrick could hear the footsteps get closer to the tree. He looked in his hands and saw the axe that he still held. He closed his eyes tightly, unsuccessfully pushing away at his fear. _OK, just think Patrick. It's just like an EVA fight, except you're the EVA and they're the Harpy...they've got a gun and you only have an axe…they're bigger than you are…there's no AT Field…if you get killed they can't just fix you and bring you back…oh hell…_

Just as the footfalls got right behind the tree, Patrick lurched from behind screaming and swung the axe at the soldier as hard as he could. The swing was wild and missed the man, but instead the blade of the axe landed on his assault rifle and neatly cut the rifle in two. As Patrick swung up the axe for a second time the white-clad intruder kicked him in the thigh, stopping his attack midway. The soldier then swung his right hand behind his back and pulled out an automatic pistol. Breaking his fall with the axe handle Patrick quickly pushed off of it and with all of his speed and strength rammed himself into the larger soldier. With the shock of the blow, the man's pistol flew out of his hands and into the nearby snow.

Both Patrick and the solider fell down on the ground, Patrick landing on top of him. Trying to bring up the axe, the other man instead grabbed the handle and then pushed back hard, enough to roll Patrick over on his back. The intruder rolled on top of him, taking both hands on the axe handle and pushing it hard into Patrick's chest.

The boy fought and pushed back with all of his might, but the intruder's strength and weight was simply too much for him. Patrick gasped for air as the man continued to push the axe handle to crush his chest. He looked on the snow away from him and saw Shinji by the tree, and the pistol in the snow a meter away. "SHINJI! GUN!" he screamed.

The boy heaved as the man pushed the axe handle further into this chest, then as Patrick nearly blacked out, the man picked up the axe and swung it over his shoulder. Patrick trembled as he struggled to get free.

As the intruder was about to strike with the axe a shot rang out and a large red spot was visible on his white parka. The man turned around and saw Shinji standing two meters away, the gun in his hands in a shooting stance. He tried to jump away but then there was a second shot and he fell over and into the snow, the axe tumbling out of his hands.

Patrick saw Shinji as he held the pistol. His eyes were wide with emotion and his hands were trembling. "Dude, you okay?"

Shinji didn't reply but instead dropped the gun onto the ground. Patrick managed to push off the dead carcass of the man from his lower body and rushed to where Shinji stood shaking.

"Thank you," he said. Shinji didn't say anything in reply, but just nodded. His eyes were in tears.

_Rei said he had a big heart. I can see why it's such a tragedy that he's the best pilot._

"Cabin," Patrick said, trying to be encouraging.

"Right," Shinji finally answered, still shaking. The boys both started to run uphill when Shinji's mind finally came to him and he realized they had forgotten someone. "PenPen!"

"Where is he?" Patrick asked. Both boys looked down the hill and saw the penguin ten meters below them. He was just standing there in the snow.

Shinji bolted back down the hill to where the bird was, Patrick following him. They found PenPen by the edge of the trees. He was still alive, although the snow next to him was covered in brown and yellow substance. The bird had frozen stiff in fear.

As Shinji scooped up the penguin in his arms Patrick looked down the hill and saw several more white-clad men climbing up. A moment later there was more gunfire and he grabbed Shinji by the arm and pulled him to the trees. Shinji slid behind one tree, PenPen still in his arms, while Patrick dove behind another one a few feet away. _I hope that he's right about Misato coming_, Patrick thought to himself, as he was afraid to go anywhere else.

* * *

"Kaji-san!" Asuka exclaimed in relief.

"Are you two all right?" he asked hurriedly.

"We're alright," the Second Child said. "There's two more of them in the kitchen that we took care of." The agent raised his eyes a little in surprise as Asuka gave him a smugly confident look. "What's happening?"

"SEELE," Kaji said. "The contact from this morning was part of a diversion to get both Katsuragi and myself out of the way." Taking a quick look around Kaji noticed the two bodies clad in white inside the kitchen doorway, but also knew something important was missing.

"Where are the boys," he asked them.

Asuka's suddenly gasped "Shinji!"

"They're outside getting firewood," Rei told him, still with composure.

Kaji bounded into Misato's bedroom and looked out the window. In the treeline to the right of the cabin he could see both of the boys crouching behind trees as white-clad intruders shot at them from a short distance. Shinji was tightly clutching PenPen as he hid behind one tree that was twenty meters away.

The agent spoke into his headset. "Nest secure for the moment, along with Zero and Two. What's your ETA?"

"Three minutes," a voice cracked on the speaker, the loud buzzing noise of the snowmobile engine in the background. "I've got company behind me!"

"Pick up One and Four in the woods. Get here ASAP, we'll try to hold them off."

He immediately rushed back into the living room. Grabbing the larger of the two couches, Kaji pushed it and it fell over backwards. He then grabbed an old rug that had been underneath it and pulled it off the floor. Underneath where the rug lay was a compartment hidden on the wooden floor. He immediately opened the compartment's doors and pulled out an assault rifle and magazines.

Asuka saw that inside the compartment was an assortment of military arms of all types. Without asking she grabbed a grenade launcher from the space along with a bandolier of grenades. As Kaji rushed back to Misato's bedroom and the window, Asuka followed quickly behind him.

Rei stood over the compartment, studying its remaining contents. Determining that she was capable of doing something as well, she reached inside for a weapon and then made her way back to the kitchen.

Kaji took the butt of the assault rifle and smashed out the glass on the bedroom window. He then pointed the rifle barrel out the open windowsill and fired several bursts at the oncoming soldiers that were on the steep slope below the cabin. He continued to fire three-round bursts at the group below. Behind the bedroom wall Asuka sat on the floor as she cracked open the grenade launcher and dropped a high explosive round in the breech, snapping the launcher back together afterward.

Taking down several men before he ran out of rounds in his clip, Kaji quickly ducked back down from the windowsill as several bullets hit the wall. One of them shot through the window and ricocheted towards the living room. As he reloaded, he nodded at Asuka and she quickly popped up. She took quick aim at the opponent closest to the treeline and pulled the trigger on the grenade launcher. She felt the "thump" of the shot and rolled back down to the floor without bothering to check to see if her round landed on target. A second later a loud blast was heard outside. Kaji then went up again and started hunting for targets.

"Did I get him?" Asuka asked him without looking as she cracked the grenade launcher open and dropped out the spent casing.

"Yes," Kaji replied. He then began to fire another set of bursts at the incoming soldiers as Asuka dropped in a new grenade.

* * *

Hiding in the tree line the boys were unable to move forward, as the intruding soldiers had now gone prone and were shooting into both the forest and the cabin above. Patrick tried to crawl on the ground from the tree and quickly jumped back as shots fired hit the snow a foot from his hand. From behind the tree trunk he felt thumps against the other side and knew they were bullets.

Kneeling by the kitchen window, Rei methodically opened up the window and pushed up the glass from the windowsill. She leaned against a corner of the room and then grabbed the rifle she had brought with her from the living room. It was a sniper rifle of Japanese SDF issue, light in weight with a folding stock. While she had never held a rifle before, her EVA Unit 00 had often used a much larger one in combat modeled on the one she now had in her small hands. She knew the feeling of shooting something with it, from that part now inside her soul that was once known to her as the Me Inside the EVA. Crouching low to keep from being seen, she held the rifle to her shoulder and looked down the scope at the ground below.

Patrick looked at Shinji as he continued to hide behind the tree trunk a few feet away from him. PenPen had snapped out of his shock and now panicked, flapping wildly. The boy tried to keep him under control while avoid being hit by any gunfire. He then looked in front of them by the treeline and saw that one of the soldiers had managed to reach their position. Seeing the rifle the man carried, Patrick quickly turned around the tree and looked on the ground for anything that would work as a weapon. Unfortunately there was nothing but snow. His stomach plunged as his hope faded. _Too late._

Ten feet away, the soldier aimed for Patrick's head behind the tree. A shot rang out and the man felt a massive pain in his right shoulder, dropping his rifle. The soldier turned around at the source of the shot and felt another sharp pain, this one to his left kneecap. He screamed in agony as he dropped to the ground and grabbed it with both hands.

Hearing the soldier's screams, Patrick turned around and saw him on the rolling on the ground in excruciating pain. In the background there were more shots, bursts of automatic fire, and grenades exploding. Then there was a buzzing sound, followed by other explosions and he knew that somehow the tide had turned.

The buzzing sound got louder until a large red blur came barreling up the hillside and into the forest. Sliding up to Shinji's tree was Misato. She was riding a snowmobile, wearing a red parka and snowsuit with black sunglasses. A SMG was in her right hand.

"Sorry I'm late," she said to him.

"Just like last time," he replied. Without being told the boy hopped on the seat in front of Misato, clutching PenPen in his arms.

"Patrick!" Misato shouted, and the other boy ran over to the snowmobile as fast as he could. He turned to look at the cabin and for a moment he saw Rei's head peering out of the kitchen window. The mere sight of her gave his spirits a much needed boost. _She's safe! _

The boy hopped on the seat behind Misato and she took off as soon as he was on board. "One and Four with me," she called into a headset microphone.

"Meet at Evac Point Gamma," Kaji's voice came back. "I'll have zero and two with me."

Misato gunned the engine and ran the snowmobile through the forest as the boys hung on for dear life. Weaving through the trees, it looked as they eluded their pursuers until other loud buzzing noises were heard behind them. Patrick swung back on his rear seat and noticed two motorcycles, their riders dressed in white, were following them.

"We got company!" he shouted.

"Right pocket!" Misato shouted back.

Patrick shoved his hand into the pocket of Misato's parka and felt several round objects. He pulled out one and saw that it was a fragmentation grenade.

"You know how to use that?" she asked.

"Yeah, I think so!"

Gunfire was heard behind them and Patrick swung around again. One of the bikers was shooting at them with a pistol.

"Grenade!" Misato shouted. Patrick pulled on the pin and then tried to throw it behind them, but the snowmobile took a large bump and the grenade popped out of his hands and onto the passing ground. Two seconds later a muffled explosion was heard behind them, and Patrick yelped in pain when something hot hit his head.

Misato turned the snowmobile and plunged down a slope lined with fur trees. "Again!" she shouted to Patrick. The boy took another grenade, pulled the pin and this time just lobbed it over his shoulder. A moment later he heard another blast followed by a third one. Quickly turning his head he saw the motorcycle lift into the air, tossing the driver and landing on the slope, bursting into flames as it hit the ground.

"Got one!" Patrick shouted. Before they could feel elated more shots rang out as the second motorcycle driver was now shooting at them.

"Hang on!" Misato warned as she took the snowmobile into a clearing outside of the forest. Banking the snowmobile to the edge of the trees, she waited as the other motorcycle shot outside just behind them. Once the second cycle ran into the clearing, Misato swung the snowmobile hard to the right, swerving it into the snow. As the motorcycle rider jammed his boots into the snow to break the cycle and turn, Misato's right arm came up and she fired the Uzi at full auto into the cycle and the rider. A second later the fuel tank of the motorcycle burst into flames.

Not wanting to stick around, Misato kicked the snowmobile upright and then sped through the clearing and then down another slope. They heard another buzzing sound and all of them looked around until Shinji pointed out another red snowmobile like their own on the other edge of the slope. A man was driving it, one red-haired girl in a red dress holding him and a blue-haired girl in a blue dress holding the red girl.

"They're here!" Shinji shouted.

Misato turned the snowmobile and pushed down the hill at full speed. Talking into her headset, she got Kaji to stop his snowmobile in a patch of forest as she caught up to him. A minute later they slid into the forest and arrived where Kaji parked his vehicle.

"Katsuragi!" Kaji called out to her. She panted for a few seconds and then said "they're more behind those two, maybe two minutes away."

"Not to worry," he replied. "On the way here I called in our Alliance friends. Air support is forthcoming." As if on cue, the sound of helicopters was heard and both Kaji and Misato took their snowmobiles towards the outside edge of the trees. In the skies they could see two green Blackhawk helicopters, one of which was moving towards them.

"Ride's over," Misato shouted and both Shinji and Patrick got off the snowmobile. All of them ran to the very edge of the forest as the helicopter landed in a snowfield twenty feet away from them.

More buzzing sounds were heard in the background and Patrick looked through the clearing. He could see more snowmobiles, painted white, running out of the forest where they had been before. Each of them had two riders, one of which was carrying a machine gun. The new group of intruders didn't get very far however, as the second Blackhawk immediately let loose with gunfire from its door gunners. Rapid-fire gatling guns raked the snowfield before the enemy snowmobiles could escape and within seconds left four of them as smoldering heaps.

"Go, now!" Kaji shouted as the group ran across the clearing towards the waiting helicopter. A crewmember inside helped each of the children get inside, Penpen still clutching to Shinji as he was lifted inside the cabin. Misato then jumped in and then Kaji behind her, and the helicopter immediately lifted off.

Sitting inside the helicopter's cabin each of the children just sat there and caught their breath. All of them were silent and just looked at each other. Kaji and Misato sat at the opposite end, talking with the helicopter crew.

"Let's go back to the GeoFront," Misato suggested.

"No," Kaji answered. "Not yet. Get word out to Yoshi-kun, have him set the trap there. If they knew about this place it had to be an inside job, and not all of the pilots are here." Misato answered and then shuffled towards where the children were seated. Sliding next to Shinji, he released PenPen to her, who happily squawked and then landed in her lap.

"Are you all OK?" she asked. All four of them nodded, Patrick managed a weak smile.

Asuka looked sternly at Shinji. "Next time don't go outside if you can't take care of yourself," she said.

"I'm still here, aren't I?" he angrily shot back.

"Whatever," Asuka replied. "Just don't make me worry about you like that again." She crossed her legs and looked away from him towards the window.

Patrick looked at Rei, who was seated next to him across from the others. He noticed that she wore no boots, only her tights which were soaking. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine," she said. "But you're not." Before Patrick could answer she reached inside of a pocket in her sweater dress and pulled out a small handkerchief. Rei reached up to Patrick's head with the handkerchief and pressed it against the side of his head.

In all the confusion of battle and escape Patrick didn't realize that he was hit. He felt with his right hand where her handkerchief was and noticed it was sticky. Examining his hand he saw that it was bloody. The side of his head felt numb but not sharply in pain. "Is it bad?" he asked Rei.

"You'll live," she replied without emotion. Patrick couldn't help but smile at her first attempt at humor with him. Rei continued to apply pressure to his head wound, and gently put her other hand on top of his. She looked up at him and gave just a very small smile in response, but it was enough to make the boy forget any pain he might have felt.

Shinji felt himself becoming more cold and moved closer to Misato. She put her arm around to comfort him. He looked up at her face and said to his guardian "I guess playtime's over, isn't it?" Misato nodded and held him close to her, squeezing him tightly as the helicopter flew through the cold afternoon air.

* * *

_Tokyo-3_

Jiro Watanabe quietly walked down the dark passageway to the lower levels of the GeoFront, checking several times to make sure he wasn't being followed. The instructions given to him by the others who had contacted him earlier were clear: if you want your family to live, do exactly as we say. It was in terrified fulfillment of the rest of their instructions that he had brought himself down to the sub-levels.

Watanabe was an environmental engineer who had started working for NERV the previous year, his main responsibilities were the proper functioning of the water and power of the lower parts of the massive GeoFront complex. The job gave him access to the sub-levels, unique for just a lowly engineer considering the importance of all that NERV was doing. But like many at NERV, once Tokyo-3 city was destroyed in Unit 00's self-detonation, he felt discretion was the better part of honor and he took his young wife and headed back to his family home in Kobe.

When he had heard NERV was being rebuilt by the Alliance, he returned to get his job back. They had only taken a brief look at his background, so he thought anyway, and given their lack of expertise it was easy for him to come back. Because of the unavailability of family housing in the GeoFront he was forced to come alone, leaving Keiko-chan in Kobe. A week later however, dangerous men called him on his mobile phone and sent him photos of his wife taken from inside their house without her knowledge. Their threats were clear, and they wanted him because he had clear access to a particular part of the GeoFront: the deeper level that held the pilot apartments.

His mission was straightforward: use his engineer position to access the pilot suite level under the ruse of his job and then locate the one remaining EVA pilot who was living on that level. He was then to kill the girl and then fashion his escape through access tunnels that were known to an environmental engineer such as himself. When Watanabe asked why he, who was just a lowly engineer, was being assigned this task, he was told only that because of his soft-spoken manner and slender appearance, he wouldn't at all be suspected by NERV and Alliance security. When he asked what he should do if he was captured, he was told to think only of the harm that would come to his family should he cooperate with the Alliance.

Two hours before his given task a blonde-haired man approached him in the GeoFront, dressed as an Alliance soldier. He handed him a small handgun and a fake tooth, and said nothing further to him as he left.

Watanabe reached the sub-level that contained the pilot apartments, using a stairway access that was located in the extreme western side of the level. From here he would walk along the gangway towards the pilot suites on the other side. Along the way he passed by two uniformed guards who only gave him a cursory glance. Dressed in his khaki utility coveralls and carrying a large tool kit he looked like any other NERV technician and so would not arouse suspicion.

It was as he walked towards the end of the hallway that he saw the brunette girl. She was dressed in a European-style school uniform with a white blouse and plaid skirt, her legs clad in burgundy stockings. She was about to board the elevator alone when he saw her, and he hurried up to catch the same elevator.

As the doors closed, he nervously eyed the control panel and quietly entered a high floor number. Only one other number was punched, and that led to the top of the GeoFront. The girl stood facing the doors and smiled politely as he stood next to her.

Knowing he had little time to act, he pushed down all of his fear and emotions and tried to think of the harm that might come to Keiko if he failed at his task. Could he trust the men? No, but clearly it was better than just reporting it to security and then seeing her die.

He silently lowered the tool bag to the floor as the elevator made its long way upward. For security reasons the pilot elevators were exclusive to them and the few others with access to their floor, so the ride would probably be uninterrupted and take seven to eight minutes. Enough time for him to do the dirty task and be gone.

The man gently pushed the bag behind the girl and reached into it, grabbing the pistol in his hands. It was small and plastic in construction, but just powerful enough to kill a teenage girl at point-blank range.

Watanabe took a deep breath and held the pistol with two hands, pointing it behind the girl's head. She stood there not noticing him, just standing in front of the doors and waiting patiently. _Would it really be so easy as this? _He wondered. He tightly closed his eyes and forced himself only to think of his lovely Keiko.

"I'm sorry, miss," he said as his finger wrapped around the trigger. At that the girl swung around and looked at him directly, gasping a little. He pointed his pistol right at her forehead.

"Then I'm sorry, too! " Mari said. At that moment a panel popped out of the elevator ceiling and a woman in combat fatigues jumped down and landed on the metal floor.

Wantanabe swiveled to see who had jumped down and raised the pistol at her, but Wellington knocked the pistol out of his hand with one karate chop, and then took both hands and flung the smaller Japanese man against the elevator wall, Mari stepping aside from the and moving to the control panel to stop the elevator. Before he could move away from her she pressed herself against him and pinned him down against the side of the wall.

"Looks like we caught a rat," Moira said as the man trembled in fear. "Good work, Mari. You're as brave as ever."

Mari looked at Watanabe and said "He doesn't seem like a hit man."

"I think that was the idea here, not thinking we'd suspect anything." The elevator stopped and Mari was immediately pulled out by a security guard. Agent Hideyoshi Kikuchi, dressed in a dark suit and wearing sunglasses, quickly moved in.

"You know this bloke?" Wellington asked him.

"It's Watanabe from Environmental," he answered in a gruff voice. Kikuchi immediately frisked the man, pulling out his ID card, wallet and coin purse. He checked the man's pockets for something else. "No phone," he reported. "Wellington, check his mouth!"

As Watanabe heard the agent he panicked and immediately tried to bite down on the fake tooth he was given. Fortunately the Alliance officer saw what was happening and punched him in the mouth twice, after a second time a tooth fell out of his mouth and hit the floor, foaming as it did so.

"Amateur," she scowled as she again threw him against the wall.

Kikichi put his face right up next to Watanabe's. "You're no assassin. Who put you up to this?" Watanabe didn't answer right away but just shook in fear, his face was as pale as a ghost.

"What did they do, threaten your family?"

The prisoner spoke in hesitant, stuttering tones. "T-t-they gave me no choice! They'll kill my wife if I didn't do this!"

"I got news for you, mate!" Wellington told him. "Thanks to you, she's already dead!" Watanabe howled in despair as he heard her.

"If you don't want to go down in history as a child murderer, I suggest you cooperate and tell us who helped you out here."

"I don't know who they are!"

As the captive resisted, Wellington took her tribal blade out of its holder. Kikichi waved her off for a moment. "They need him intact for interrogation later," he said.

"Why wait?" she replied, and then shoved the man against the wall one more time. Turning him around to face her, Wellington ripped down the man's uniform and then swiftly placed the blade in her right hand against the man's genitals.

"You see this tattoo of mine, mate?" she asked him, pointing to her ornately decorated chin. "This is a Maori custom, we get that when we're thirteen. It's really dug in there by needles, no pain killers or anything like that." The prisoner said nothing but just looked at her with eyes wide open, his body shaking violently.

"Now us Maori have a thing with pain. Pain is our friend. Pain is our schoolmaster. Pain is our purpose." She lifted the knife and put it in front of his face, toying with him a bit. "I don't suppose you have any experience with pain like that, do you?" Watanabe continued to shake, closing his eyes tight and saying under his breath. "I really don't know anyone!"

"Well, you got that gun from _somebody_, didn't you?" she countered. "Do you know what Maori women do with captive prisoners who try to have their way with little girls?" She moved the knife back to his genitals. "They split their John Thomas from stem to stern and then they eat it right in front of them!" she ran the knife along the side of his manhood, just to make the point.

"So," she looked at the man with a wide grin. "What'll it be?"

The screaming was heard all the way down the elevator shaft.

* * *

After the decision was made not to go to Tokyo-3, Kaji made a couple of calls and then directed the helicopter pilot to fly to another destination close by. Within fifteen minutes the Blackhawk landed next to an old wooden lodge that was down the main highway from Mt Fuji.

As additional troops arrived and secured the grounds, Kaji spoke with the manager of the _onsen_ and after some formal apologies and a great deal of cash, obtained the use of the hot springs lodge for the night for their private party.

Like most traditional hot springs, the water pools here were themselves segregated by gender. Kaji and Misato divided up the rooms, giving two rooms to the pilots and one for themselves in between them. The girls quickly went up to their own room to clean up and the boys did the same. As they lost their luggage in the cabin, the bathrobes that were provided by the lodge were all the clean clothes they had for the moment.

After helping him change the bandage on his forehead, Shinji led Patrick down to the mens' spring pool. They were followed by two Japanese guards as Kaji waited for them in the lower spring area. As he was about to go into the pool, Shinji panicked and then hurriedly explained to Patrick that he needed to shower first. There were showers right by the poolside and stripping off their robes the boys both sprayed themselves off of dirt, sweat, and blood. They spoke only a little to each other as each of them tried to rinse off the bad memories of the day in the hot shower water.

Cleaned off and still naked, Patrick slipped into the warm waters of the _onsen_. Kaji was already in the water, relaxing and playing with PenPen as the bird backstroked through the pool water. Shinji wandered to where he was and started a conversation with him, as Patrick moved further into the spring pool to explore.

The water was shallow, and there was the rush of a large fountain on the outside wall. Another wall was made of long bamboo reeds and Patrick could hear the voices of Asuka and Misato chatting away like nothing had happened. The spring was dimly lit with only a few torches on the sides and one electric light at the top of the room above.

As he gently moved through the warm water Patrick closed his eyes and concentrated on where he was. He slowed down his breathing and tried to register each noise he heard in the pool, the fountain, the rush of the water, the voices of the others as they spoke out loud, the wind chimes that were attached to the outside wall. One by one he filtered each noise out as he searched for one particular sound, and as he found the quietest spot along the bamboo wall he found it. Patrick gently turned his back to the wall and leaned against it.

"Rei? Are you there?"

"Yes," she said, her soft voice coming from behind the bamboo wall right behind where he was leaning.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm well," she said simply. "And you?"

"I had the shakes for a bit but I guess I'm alright now." Memories still tried to enter his head, memories of being shot at and having an axe handle pushed into his chest. "I could have done without that today."

They were both quiet for a while as he breathed the cool air deeply and finally allowed himself to relax. Patrick pictured the image of her against the other side of the wall. Like him, he knew she wore nothing and inside his mind imaged the beauty of her naked body floating in the same water as his. "Rei?"

"Yes?"

"You know," he said to her, "maybe I've just been trying too hard, just thinking about what I want and not considering anything else. Do you know what I mean?"

"I understand it," she replied.

Patrick looked above through an opening in the roof above them and saw bright stars in the night sky. "Maybe I should just stop trying so hard" he sighed.

"Is that how you really feel?"

"I think maybe I just make things so complicated. After today, and I _really_ don't want to think about today anymore, I just want to keep life as simple as I can. I mean, if you really don't want me to keep trying, then…"

"No," she said, "I don't mind anymore."

He raised his eyebrows at that. "Really?"

"Yes," Rei told him, her voice gentle and sure.

He closed his eyes and let out another deep sigh, his muscles all relaxing at once. "Then let's forget everything else and just start over," Patrick said to her. "How about we just have tea in Hakone one night and just…talk. Just like that."

There was silence for a few seconds. Then her voice said from behind the wall "I'd like that."

Patrick didn't feel excited after hearing Rei say that, but instead opened his eyes and let out a deep breath, his gaze on the stars above. Somehow he also knew that she was looking at the same sky he was. It was their shared moment despite the wall that separated them, and for the first time he could feel that wall being taken down.

"Thanks."


	17. Chapter 16: Breakthrough

_Tokyo-3_

In the commander's office, Misato and Kaji both stood in front of Commander Vinson's desk, which one month earlier had been Commander Ikari's desk. The American admiral sat and listened to both of them as the reported on the attack on the cabin as well as what had become the successful pursuit of the villains responsible.

As they finished, Vinson again skimmed the paper report in his hands and then dropped it on his desk. "So this Watanabe guy gets right through our screening and tries to take a shot at one of our pilots." He looked sternly at Kaji. "What the hell happened? I thought you were checking out all of the old NERV returning staff."

Kaji looked uncomfortable, if only slightly. "Engineer Watanabe did clear all security checks, but was left vulnerable as his family was not in the vicinity were security could cover any threats to them. He was turned as a result. Fortunately, our trap worked and we caught him before anything got worse."

"Using Miss Illustrious as bait," the Admiral commented, pointing at Kaji. "You play a dangerous game with our most important assets."

"I have every trust in Makanami-chan's capabilities, as I do with the other pilots. Even stripped of their security detail, all the other children knew to fight back and they did so with a high degree of competence."

Vinson was not as impressed. "Or maybe they were just damned lucky. Nearly getting our pilots killed was not responsible behavior, colonel."

Misato intervened. "Sir, it was my fault. I shouldn't have left them at the cabin without reinforcing security there."

"The bigger issue," Kaji said as he sought to redirect the topic, "was Watanabe's contact. Agents Kikuchi and Wellington found a Major Mueller, who was an Alliance security staff officer who came here with the European reinforcements two weeks ago. After Wellington's interrogation got a description, we were able to apprehend Mueller and recover his satellite phone, which we linked to the SEELE assault team on Mt Fuji. Clearly Mueller learned the whereabouts of the pilots from his position within Alliance security, not within NERV."

The commander nodded. "We had a leak on the Alliance side as well. Johnnie's working on re-vetting all of the appropriate security staff to be sure we don't have any more." He sighed deeply and leaned back on his chair. At that moment the door opened at the far end of the room and General Sheffield swiftly walked in.

"Yes, Johnnie?" Vinson asked him. The British general's face wore a very serious expression.

"Something's come to light, I need the three of you to see this." Sheffield pulled out a data chip and handed it to Vinson, who then inserted it into a slot on his desk. From another side of the desk a small holographic projector came out and showed an image to the four of them.

"This was captured from high-altitude reconnaissance drone a few hours ago over Tbilisi, in the Caspian region. As you know the Alliance was negotiating with the Georgians about setting up a base there. Then this happened." Sheffield hit a button Vinson's desk that paged the images down to what looked like a battle screen, where military units within a large city were engaged in a futile defense against two large white figures. Sheffield let the hologram play and then froze it when larger images of the white giants were visible.

"Here," he pointed out. "One of the units images is fuzzy, perhaps distorted by some sort of energy field, but this other one is clear." As the others saw what Sheffield was showing them, they all took deep breaths, Misato gasping in shock.

"Another Harpy?" she said in surprise. "We got the last two in Vladivostok!"

"Apparently not," Kaji observed. "Is this other unit with the force field also a Mass Production type?"

"Unknown," Sheffield said. "The energy field never dissipated during the action." The general then faced Vinson. "Needless to say after that demonstration the Geogians were unwilling to cooperate with the Alliance any further."

Misato worriedly put her hands through her hair. "If they have these two, how many others do they have?"

"Also unknown," Sheffield answered, "but they clearly have additional resources to call upon, in addition to the captured Unit 06 if that's what it is."

All of them were silent for a moment as the gravity of the new information became clear. Admiral Vinson leaned forward on this desk, looking at the others with arms folded as he stared at the holographic images. "They could have dozens of these things underground somewhere, or they could just be scraping the barrel with their remaining assets," he analyzed. "Whatever it is they didn't feel they have sufficient strength to go after us directly." He concentrated his thoughts on the image and let his mind put the plan together.

"Johnnie," the commander said after a minute of silence. "Work on a deployment method that will get us out there with the EVAs and fast. As long as we're tied to Tokyo-3 we're still unable to seriously go on offense. "

"Yes, sir," Sheffield acknowledged.

"Colonel Kaji, redouble efforts on our internal security so we don't have a repeat of this weekend. Also, if the families of our staff are vulnerable, relocate them to the area here. I don't care if you have to put them up in all of the hot springs in Hakone but don't let us get exposed like that again."

"Understood, Admiral." Kaji said.

Vinson now faced Misato. "Colonel Katsuragi, get your pilots ready for action. This time we won't let up until we've won." Misato nodded to him with the same sense of duty. "Yes, sir."

"All of you, we have to expect that they'll continue to come after us with everything they've got. Don't let these bastards win," Vinson growled. "Now let's move!"

* * *

After her meeting with the other commanders Misato gathered the pilots together in the pilot ready room and told them what she had learned, most especially about the discovery of new Harpies and also about the attempt against their lives. While she praised their efforts in the cabin, she also admonished them as a group, instructing them to be more careful with their own security in the future. Seeing the serious looks on the children's faces and noting that none of them, including Asuka, put up any protest she knew that the message had gotten through.

Once the meeting ended, Patrick walked up to Misato privately. She greeted him with a tired smile. "What is it, Patrick?"

"Could I go to Hakone tomorrow night?"

She thought for a moment. "After what happened I really don't know, I'll need to give you more escorts and you won't have much time but..."

"...with Rei?" Patrick added.

Misato looked at the American boy wryly. "Oh, _that's_ why! Is she...on board with this?" Patrick nodded, and crossed his fingers behind him that Misato would be generous.

"Alright," she agreed after thinking about it. "I'll even get her ready for you. Come by the girls' suite at 7:00pm tomorrow. Will four hours be enough time?"

Patrick was happy just to get the leave. "I'm sure we'll manage!"

* * *

Despite being swamped with work as Misato began preparations for the next round of EVA deployments, she still found the time to help Rei with her upcoming date with Patrick. Not that Rei had actually _asked_ for the help, of course. The following afternoon she took a compliant Rei to get her hair and nails done, and well as buy her new clothes for the event. Just as they were about to leave the suite, Asuka asked if she could tag along and Misato included her in the group. The three of them spent a couple of hours together as Misato and Asuka bickered over choosing outfits and accessories for their confused companion.

Returning back to the GeoFront, they unpacked Misato's choices and again had Rei try on each one. She was indifferent to most of them but then walked out of the bedroom with one outfit that she said she felt comfortable in.

"You like _this_ one?" Asuka complained. "You really don't have any taste, do you?"

"I don't know," Misato said with a smile, "I think it suits her quite well."

Asuka looked Rei over as she stood in the middle of the living room. "She looks like an office girl!"

"A _sexy_ office girl," the older girl added. "I'd say this is a winner." Misato then picked up her makeup kit. "Now Rei let's go to the bathroom and finish, alright?"

* * *

A half-hour later Rei was again standing in the living room as Misato and Asuka looked her over, carefully analyzing their work.

"What do you think?" Misato asked Asuka. "You don't think we overdid it, do you?"

"_Nothing_ is going to help that," Asuka replied, pointing at Rei. "Maybe we should have just put her back in her school uniform and be done with it!"

"Oh, give her a chance," Misato answered back. "I think she'll knock him out tonight!"

Rei had a puzzled look on her face. "Why would I knock Forrestal-kun out?" Misato was about to answer when the doorbell rang to the girls' suite. Rei went to answer the door when Misato held her back. "No, no, no," she admonished.

"Why not?"

"You ALWAYS make them wait," Misato replied. "Tell him you'll be ready in just a minute." Rei went to the doorway intercom and answered, in a somewhat nervous voice. "Just a minute!"

At the doorway Misato did a final check. Pulling a lipstick case out of her bag again, she said to Rei. "Pucker up, just a little bit more." Rei did as she was told and Misato applied another layer of bright red lipstick to her lips. "There. You're ready. Now open the door."

Standing at the doorway was Patrick, who wore a green sportscoat and slacks with a white cotton button-down shirt. The shirt was a choice from Mari, who Patrick had gone to himself for help with preparations for tonight. His blonde hair was neatly combed as opposed to the unkempt way he normally wore it, although a small bandage was on the right side of his forehead from the wound he took during the attack on the cabin. As Rei opened the door he looked at her in astonishment, at first wondering just exactly who it was standing in front of him.

"Well," said Misato, smiling as she put her arm on Rei's sholder. "Wha'cha think?"

For a full minute Patrick was speechless as he saw the transformed girl standing in front of him. Rei wore a solid blue jumper with a hem length at mid-thigh, the dress being cut in a way that greatly flattered her figure and gave an especially good view of her bare legs. Underneath the jumper she wore a button-down long-sleeved blouse, the collar being opened up and showing the small-silver cross necklace that she wore. Her nails were all done in blue that matched the dress, with tiny white angels painted on toenails visible through the peep-holes of her blue ballet flats. Rei's blue hair was cut neatly, still with bangs in the front but now held in the back by an oversized blue bow. Most impressively, she now wore full makeup with bright red lipstick, violet eye shadow, mascara and blush. It was all almost too much.

"Wow!" Patrick said. Rei blushed a little more as she seemed embarrassed by it all. "Did you do all that?"

"Well, we helped a little," Misato told him.

"We helped a LOT," Asuka corrected from inside the suite.

Patrick nodded in firm approval, and then turned to Rei. "Ready to go?" She smiled faintly and nodded, still looking uncomfortable with all of the attention. In her hands she clutched a small blue handbag, another gift from Misato.

"Thanks a lot for this!" the boy said to Misato. He then motioned for Rei to join him and she stepped out of the doorway and into the hall where he stood.

"Be sure to kiss her by midnight or else she changes back!" Misato quipped. Both of the children looked at each other with embarrassed looks. The older girl just smiled. "Have a good time!" With that, the couple left down the hall as Misato looked on.

"Ah, it's so cute to see them like this," she sighed.

"Give me a break!" Asuka carped. "Knowing her they'll probably just go to a library."

"I think that would be romantic too," Misato replied, finally closing the door.

"Say," said Asuka as she sat on the couch and examined her fingernails, which were now colored bright red with tiny German flags on several of them. "Where's Shinji, anyway? He didn't say anything to me about where he'd be tonight."

Misato plunked down on the couch and also studied her own fingernails, as she had them done that afternoon as well. "Kaji borrowed him," she told Asuka, "about what he would not tell me. It's some sort of secret."

The redhead looked at her and smirked. "Is it the kind of secret that you can wear?"

"Oh, I hope so," Misato said, examining her ring finger carefully.

Following Patrick and Rei were a group of black-suited security personnel, enough people to fill the entire elevator as they got on. Once the lift started upwards did either of the two of them start to relax.

Patrick took another moment to look at Rei and her outfit as they went up. "So, really," he asked her, "did they pick this out for you?"

"I picked the blouse," Rei replied, "and I find the shoes fit quite well. They did everything else."

"I think you look good in it," he complimented, "but do you like it?"

"It's a little cold for my legs. The makeup is an interesting sensation," the girl said as she puckered her lips just a little. "I don't mind it but it takes some adjustment." She tilted her head and looked at Patrick. "Do you think they did too much?"

The boy was honest. "A little."

"Oh."

He tried to put a better spin on his answer, "It's still pretty, though. It's really nice to see you dressed up like this."

The two of them stood in silence until the elevator reached the top, which was the ground level above the GeoFront. They stepped and saw a group of another twenty security guards standing in front of several armored vehicles. A helicopter bearing a searchlight flew overhead.

"It's a date, not a combat deployment!" Patrick said under his breath.

"Hello there!" a voice boomed from outside. The two of them ran over to the edge of the driveway and saw standing there a few hundred meters away was a green-painted giant, holding a pallet gun and standing at the ready. The newly-refurbished Evangelion Unit 05 would also be providing security tonight.

"Mari?" Patrick said aloud.

"Don't worry about a thing, Pats!" the voice sounded back on loudspeakers built into the EVA. "We'll keep an eye out while you're with your girl."

Realizing the extravagant means Misato used to ensure their protection, Patrick sighed in frustration. Standing next to him as he put his face in his palm, Rei smiled at him and giggled softly.

* * *

Later that evening another pair walked down a quiet street in Old Hakone, as they slowly passed by a row of small shops and restaurants. After the disaster of the JSSDF attack a month earlier the town was starting to come back to life, with shoppers and local residents returning to favorite spots and now new patrons in the form of new NERV and Alliance personnel, many in uniform, walking the streets. The night was quiet as a gentle breeze came off the lake, and the temperature had warmed up since the freak cold front of the prior week. It was a good night for going out.

Kaji again took out the small red box from his coat pocket and looked at it. He showed it to his younger companion. "Do you really think she'll like it?" he asked Shinji.

"I think it's fine, really," he said to Kaji. A half-hour earlier the two of them had just finished the purchase at a local jeweler as an unusually nervous Kaji had spent over an hour evaluating and picking out the ring he thought would be the right one. For his help in the choosing, Kaji had also given Shinji money to buy a gift and he had promptly bought a gold necklace with a monkey charm to give to Asuka later.

The older man popped open the box to study the ring one more time. Mounted on a platinum band it was not a very large diamond, but it was cut in the shape of a heart. _Cute, yet also elegant_, Kaji thought. _She should like this one_. _I hope._

"Do girls really care about the color and stuff like that?" Shinji asked.

"Oh, yes," Kaji replied, "an eligible woman is practically a geology expert when it comes to engagement rings."

"But that's a really nice ring. She wouldn't say no to that, would she?"

"There's no point in leaving it to chance," Kaji replied as he looked over the ring one more time, and then snapped the cover shut. Putting the box back in the jacket pocket, he let out a long breath and looked up at the full moon above them. "Never actually believed it would happen like this." He put his hands in his pockets and smiled at Shinji as they walked down the sidewalk, glancing behind them briefly to check that their security detail was in eyesight. A group of four large Japanese men dressed in casual clothes were quietly following them, as others dressed in black scattered around them. "One day this will be you," he said to Shinji.

The boy was surprised at the remark. "Um, I can't even _think_ about that right now," he said nervously.

"Are you surprised that she likes you as much as she does?" Kaji asked him.

Shinji was thoughtful about the answer. "Well, it's kind of funny, but for a long time I never really thought about going out with her. It was more like she was my sister or something."

"When did that change?"

The younger one stopped on the sidewalk, as the memory of the recent past came to haunt him. "It was when I saw her in the hospital," he said softly. "I just couldn't stand to see her like that, so empty and lifeless. I guess that's when I knew."

"Well, you're doing well with Asuka so far," Kaji told him. "I'm sure she sees in you the one thing that she thinks she's lacking in."

"What's that?" Shinji asked.

"Love," Kaji replied. "Inside of her she doesn't think she's capable of it. Yet every day you prove her wrong. In that sense, you've bested her."

"I don't really think of it that way!"

"It's good that you don't, that's actually the part of you that makes you so special," Kaji told the boy. As they spoke he looked into a nearby window and smiled. "Speaking of love," he said, "look there."

Shinji looked at the window that Kaji was pointing at and saw it was part of a café. Inside the café Shinji noticed several other men dressed in black sitting down in various booths or tables. Then he noticed the one couple that was not dressed in black.

Sitting at another booth inside the café were Patrick and Rei. Both sat close together as they were being served by two waitresses and an older man with a bald head. Shinji couldn't hear what anyone was saying but could tell they had ordered something, and then the two waitresses quickly came back with their order.

Carefully they sat down on the table five glass cups, each filled with one scoop of ice cream topped with a red cherry. The couple looked anxiously as the servers finished putting down all of the cups and then presented them with a set of spoons. Patrick gave one spoon to Rei, and then one by one she took a small portion of each of the five cups of ice cream on the table, carefully analyzing each one as she tasted it. Satisfied with her selection she pointed to one of the cups and then Patrick carefully moved the cup towards her so she could eat some more of it. He started to take the other four for himself but Rei quickly intervened, saying nothing but only giving him one cup and pushing the other three to the edge of the table. When Patrick looked at her in slight protest she still said nothing but gently patted her own stomach as she looked at him. Smiling and nodding, and understanding Rei's meaning he went on to eat only from the cup she had selected for him.

"Incredible," Kaji said with a deep laugh. "She's mothering him already!" He turned to the boy and watched as Shinji looked at Rei, mesmerized. The boy said nothing but his face showed deep emotions as he watched her.

"What do you think?" Kaji asked him.

"She's happy!" he replied. _And so am I, to see you like this._

* * *

They took their time coming back to the GeoFront. Somewhere between the café and walking around Old Hakone they had taken hold of each other's hand, and didn't let go for the rest of the night. After a night of eating and talking and walking around and looking at the moon and then just standing by the dock and listening to the sounds of the lake the two of them reluctantly went back to their waiting vehicle for the ride home.

Rei and Patrick just sat close to each other in the back seats of the armored vehicle, looking out the window at the lake as they saw the moon's glare shine on its surface. Neither one of them said anything to the other for the hour-long drive back.

Wondering back from their returned vehicle to the elevator bank at the Geofront, they slowly made their way to an elevator held open by their silent but ever-present guards. Only two others went down to the sub-levels with them. After a few more long minutes they reached their level and walked out. The guards walked out with them, and then just stayed by the elevator as Patrick led Rei the short distance back to the girls' suite.

Asuka was still seated on the couch with a magazine in her hands as Misato sat next to her and worked on a computer tablet, occasionally calling up Hyuga or another officer to iron out some detail related to EVA operations. Penpen sat between them and held another LCD tablet that contained archived films of other penguins sliding down ice flows and waddling along the snows in the long-gone Antarctic. As he watched the videos, his thoughts were his own.

Misato's phone buzzed and he picked it up to see the message. Reading it, she then put the phone back down on the couch and tiptoed up to the front door. "They're back," she whispered to Asuka.

They both stood by the door, each one with eyes and smiles for the other, and both of them reluctant to let the night end.

"Did you have fun?" He asked her. Rei nodded, her eyes smiling.

"Better than the first date," Patrick commented.

"I had fun that time, too," she said. The remark took Patrick a little by surprise, as by all counts he had thought his first date with Rei was a disaster.

"Well," he said to her, "I had a great time tonight. Thanks for going along with me." Rei didn't say anything in return, but silently stood in front of Patrick. He then took a deep breath, stepping closer to her and placing his hands on her waist, suddenly feeling very, very nervous. Rei remained motionless, holding her hands in front of her as she clutched her bag and hung her head down slightly, but still looking up at him with her deep red eyes. He could feel her breathing at this close distance to her, and smell the perfume of her hair. Like him, she was trembling too.

Mustering up all of the courage he had Patrick gently placed his right hand on her cheek, moving her face slightly upward where he could see it. Rei took her own hand and placed it on top of his.

"Forrestal-kun, I…"

His body took over for him, doing the thing that he had tried to will himself to do. He closed his eyes and felt himself bend over to touch her lips. She closed her eyes, leaned up on her toes, and let him come.

"Ooohh," Misato said as she spied on them using the doorway video camera. "He's putting the moves on her!"

Asuka gasped in excitement. "Let me see!"

The touch of her lips was soft and warm, and he could feel the sweet sensation tingle all over him. He let the kiss linger as long as he dared. After a long moment they finally came back down to earth.

"Good night," he said to her, still holding her by the hand.

"Good night," she replied with a soft whisper, hesitant to let him go. Finally she opened the door and slipped inside, still facing him as it slid closed. Patrick stood in front for another minute, still not quite returned from his flight of fantasy. He then smiled to himself and drifted slowly back to the boys' suite.

When Rei returned, both Misato and Asuka were still sitting on the couch as if nothing had happened.

"So," asked Misato, "How did it go?"

"It went well," Rei said simply.

"Good. Do you want to fill us in?" she pried.

"I am tired," she said instead. "I will go to bed now."

After saying good night to both girls in the living room, Rei repaired first to the bathroom to clean up and remove her makeup, and then to the bedroom. She took off her dress and just lay on top of her futon wearing only her blouse. The lights in the room were still on.

She stared at the ceiling for a long while, her face without expression. Standing next to the futon was Adam, in the image of Kaworu Nagisa.

"What is it?" he asked her, looking at Rei with an inquisitive glance.

"I think that I'm falling," she said. Adam snorted indignantly in return. "Lillim."

* * *

The commander's office was dark as Vinson stood by the wall. The previous day's news regarding the new enemy Evangelions had been disconcerting to him. Just as the Alliance was gaining the upper hand against SEELE this new obstacle had come, it was as if every step they took they slid back another two.

"Dr. Viraat," the admiral called into a phone. The Indian scientist answered, "Yes, commander."

"Out of the captured Harpies how many available units can you get us?

"Apart from the spares that we used to rebuild Unit 05 with," he began to explain, "we have another three. By his request one unit is for Dr. Foch, who thinks he can get the First Child to sync with it in its present form. That leaves us two, but as I stated before we have no pilot cores, and in the month we've been here at the GeoFront we've searched very carefully but none have been found. They're only useful to provide spares until we have that."

"I see. See to it Dr. Foch gets what he needs. I'll work on what can be done with the other problem."

"Very well. Good night, sir," Viraat replied and the line cut off.

Vinson didn't move from the wall, but looked at the commander's office. _If the cores were so critical to EVA operations they'd be someplace important. You wouldn't leave it to chance that they could be found and used against you. But where? _ Studying the floor he saw the large schematic that was carved into black obsidian rock that covered the floorspace. It was the symbol in Kabbalistic theory of how man moved into being like God, Vinson knew, and representative of what the attempt to build Evangelion was. _But what if it was something more?_

The admiral switched on the phone again. "Captain Aoba?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Come to my office with a sledgehammer."

"A _sledgehammer_, sir?"

"Just do it," Vinson said, and then hung up the phone.

Three minutes later Aoba entered through the door, bearing one sledgehammer which was taken from a damage control tool set. He started to cross the room and approach the commander's desk with the hammer but Vinson met him in the middle of the room and without saying anything grabbed it from his arms.

"Commander, what is it?"

Vinson ignored the officer and in a hefty swing struck the sledgehammer onto the floor above one of the symbols of the _Sepratacum_. The floor cracked a little with the impact. He saw the damage and then swung the sledgehammer again. The crack got a little larger.

Aoba stood by as the admiral began to swing at the floor again and again. The impact was felt down the hallway and soon others curious to what was going on were outside the door, Hyuga among them.

"What's he doing?" Hyuga whispered to Aoba. The other controller was about to give a cynical reply until he realized just what the commander was looking for. "I think he might be onto something," he whispered back.

The commander kept swinging the sledgehammer until he had shattered a three-meter wide portion of the floor into black shards, reaching the steel below it. He was about to swing the hammer one more time until he saw a small sphere on the floor, recessed inside a small chamber that was now exposed. Leaning down, he took the sphere in his hands.

It was about two inches in diameter, smaller than a billiards ball, but it was perfectly spherical and appeared to be made out of thick acrylic. Deep inside there was some sort of faint red glow. A set of kanji characters was carved into the coating on one side.

"Captain Aoba," Vinson called. The controller stepped forward, with Huyga close behind him.

"Yes, sir?"

"I'm not familiar with this kanji character." He pointed to the carving on the sphere. "What does this say?"

Aoba studied the two characters on the sphere. "It's a name, sir. It says 'Aida'."

Vinson glared at the sphere in his hands. "Don't the pilots have a classmate with that name?"

"Yes, sir," said Hyuga. "He's the son of General Aida."

The admiral paused before he gave an answer. "Then today's his lucky day." He carefully handed the sphere to Aoba. "Get this to Dr. Viraat. Wake him up if you need to. Let him know this is what he needed." Aoba exchanged worried glances with Hyuga and they hurried out of the commander's office with the EVA core. The Admiral turned to Hyuga. "Captain?"

"Sir?"

He motioned to the floor. "Tear this place apart. Be careful with what you find in there."

"Yes, Admiral," Huyga nodded and then picked up his phone to start the process of dismantling the commander's office. As he did so, Commander Vinson walked across the floor and out the front door, speaking to no one on his way out.

* * *

_SEELE-2_

In another section of the underground base, Piotr wheeled Chairman Keel down a corridor as another of SEELE's committee members, a shorter man of French descent, walked alongside. They spoke in hushed tones as they moved through the dark recesses of the cavernous base.

"Circumstances are getting more dire by the hour," the French man told the Chairman. "Every attempt we have made to change the situation above ground has resulted in failure."

"Merely more obstacles to overcome," Kiel replied back. His voice was tired but still firm.

"While we hide here like rats the other side continues to build up strength," the man persisted. "Each day that goes buy brings them closer to finding the key to unraveling what we've worked so long to achieve."

"For them it is still darkness," the Chairman said. "Ikari is not cooperating, and the MAGI are not fully accessible, keeping their secrets from these interlopers. They will strike out in ignorance but they are unable to touch us."

"So far," the member countered. "Their proficiency in combat against us is better than we anticipated. I feel it's only a matter of time."

"We still have the better cards to play," Kiel said as he motioned to have his wheelchair turned to another corridor. "If we cannot defeat them in a frontal assault, then we will strike at them from within. We do as the Angels did before us: we will attack them directly at their hearts." He motioned for Piotr to stop and wheel him into the next room. The three of them entered quietly.

Sleeping on a small bed was a young girl of 14 years of age, with blonde hair and elfin face. Dressed in a simple white nightgown, she was deep in slumber and oblivious to the men standing above here.

"Begin the next phase," the chairman quietly said to the other member. "They will not prevail."

* * *

Patrick felt that he couldn't sleep that night, as he was simply too excited after leaving Rei at her place. He sat on the couch in the boys' suite for an hour just watching the TV. Shinji then returned to the suite and the two of them engaged in small talk about the events of the evening. Patrick then tried to go to bed afterwards, but found sleep wouldn't come. He found himself lazily wondering around the GeoFront with memories on his mind.

_Did it really happen like that?_ he asked himself again and again. He kept playing the whole night in his brain like a movie, remembering the warm sensation of her tiny hand slipped inside of his own. He closed his eyes and tasted the kiss still on his lips. _Wow_, he thought, _if I ever needed any proof she was an angel that was it_.

Finally after his walkabout around the GeoFront he somehow ended up at the EVA cages, standing in front of his own EVA. At that point Kikuchi (who had been following him all night) finally brought Patrick back to the suite and pushed him inside his bedroom without saying anything. He had slept deeply once he hit the futon, not even bothering to cover himself up.

He woke up that morning strangely refreshed, his mind surprisingly clear. Getting up out of bed, he went about cleaning things up in the room. He noticed that Shinji was absent, again with the redhead Patrick assumed.

_Well now that I got here, what's next?_ He asked himself. His old friend Vance, who had fancied himself an expert on picking up girls, had once told him "don't call back right away after a date. Girls have to process and stuff like that." _He's probably right_, Patrick thought. _Right now she's probably down in Terminal Dogma, huddling down in some corner and thinking deeply about everything. Just let her be, then._

Feeling charged up with energy, Patrick changed into a green-colored track suit and put on runners. He was going to go out and run around the base at the top of the GeoFront, as he hadn't run a good workout since he had returned to Tokyo-3. Opening up the front door, he was surprised to see Rei standing in front.

"Uh, Hi!" he said

"Good morning," Rei said in reply. She wore her white sundress with matching sandals and a light blue cardigan sweater.

They were both awkwardly silent for a moment until Rei spoke up. "I needed to go shopping for a few things," she told him. "Would you like to come with me?"

"Of course!" he said, and without anything further walked out the front door to join her. They talked as they walked towards the elevators. "So, did you sleep well last night?"

"Mostly," she said. "And you?"

"I had a little trouble," he replied. "So I went out to see my EVA last night." She nodded and then they both entered the elevator, followed again by a pair of security guards that were waiting for them.

They were both silent as the elevator raced to the surface. Patrick wasn't quite sure what else he should say, in a way still not wanting to spoil the mood from last night but nervous as to what he should do next.

As the elevator nearly reached the top, he felt a tug at his hand. Looking down he saw that Rei had taken it, again placing her hand inside of his. He smiled at her and she smiled back, her eyes were warm and her expression soft.

Patrick felt as if a heavy weight was lifted from his shoulders. _Yes! She's done it!_ The feeling inside of him was indescribably happy. Love that was given was now given in return, and by the one that captured his heart in what seemed like a lifetime ago. Whatever else happened, whatever came good or bad, he knew he would remember this moment for the rest of his life.

The elevator reached the top and the doors opened. Patrick turned to Rei and said, "Ready to go?" She nodded, still happily smiling at him. He gently squeezed her hand and then the both of them walked outside into the bright sunlight of the awakening day.

_To be continued..._


	18. Chapter 17: Reunions

_Two weeks later…_

_Tokyo-3_

"Holy shit!" Kensuke Aida called out as he saw the military presence outside the NERV security gates. "This is amazing! They've practically got every major piece of good hardware right outside!" Seated by a window in their shuttle bus, Kensuke panned his video camera all across the view as he saw dozens of armored vehicles and weapons systems of all types, manned by either the Alliance or the New Japanese Army.

"Dude, you better put the camera away," Toji scolded. "I don't think they're going to be really thrilled about you recording their security forces." The other boy sat on the row ahead of Kensuke, and seated next to Toji was his girlfriend Hikari Horaki, the former student representative of Class 2-A.

"It's OK, I've already made the backup file," Kensuke replied as he continued to videograph. As he filmed, their shuttle bus traveled through two different checkpoints. At each stop a guard came on board the bus asking for IDs, and both times Hikari had handed the guard NERV ID cards that Misato had sent them. Satisfied and apparently ignoring Kensuke's camera, the guards passed through the shuttle bus which then proceeded to the GeoFront entrance.

Hikari looked at the cards again after passing through the second checkpoint. A week earlier Misato had contacted her, asking if the three students would like to visit the GeoFront again to visit their former classmates. Hikari had answered yes for all of them and at Misato's request sent her their current photos. Two days ago Hikari received three new NERV ID cards, along with an official letter from her that they would use to get past the very tight security now surrounding the GeoFront.

Toji noticed that Hikari was studying the ID cards carefully. "What'cha looking for?" he asked her.

"Nothing, really," she replied. "It's just that we're supposed to be visitors here but they issued us permanent IDs instead."

Toji laid back in his seat. "Well," he said "with our families soon going back to work with NERV and all, they probably figure we'll be around more often."

"Well, it's not like _we_ work there," Hikari replied. "I just thought it was interesting, that's all."

The shuttle bus pulled up to a concrete shelter that was now the topside opening to the underground GeoFront. Kensuke looked out the window and saw dozens of soldiers in battle dress, all heavily armed and manning fortifications all around the opening. "There must be at least two heavy weapons platoons out front! They're not taking any chances this time," he exclaimed.

"Couldn't say I blame them," Toji replied as the bus came to a complete stop.

The three teenagers disembarked the bus. Hikari got out first and then turned around to help Toji down the steps. He fussed a bit as she helped him lower himself to the ground. "Hikari-chan, I can get this," he said.  
"I just want to be sure you're okay," she gently but firmly replied back to him. Toji finally hopped out of the bus and then Kensuke followed, camera bags in hand.

Led to another checkpoint by a security guard, a Japanese sergeant looked at their IDs and read the letter that Hikari handed him. After seeing the documents, he then made a call on his radio and a moment later another Japanese guard approached them. The sergeant instructed the female guard to take the three of them to a special elevator bank and then before they left he explained to the three kids that once off the elevator another guard would be waiting for them at the floor below. Knowing what happened earlier when the JSSDF had invaded the GeoFront, no one questioned the overprotective security.

The trio was led down a long corridor and then asked to enter an elevator as the guard pressed the control button herself. Just as the elevator doors were closing, a young woman in civilian clothing rushed inside. Once the elevator started downwards, Hikari looked at the other passenger and thought she recognized her. "Um, excuse me? Are you…"

"Lieutenant Maya Ibiki," the woman answered back. Maya looked at the boys and immediately knew them both. "Suzahara-kun!" she said cheerfully on seeing Toji standing in the elevator. "You look well!"

"Thanks," he replied, somewhat bashfully. Hikari took Toji's arm as she spoke to Maya on the way down. "Do you still work there, then?"

"Actually I'm just coming back today," Maya said. "I took some time off. I heard that you kids lived in Osaka-2 now, was that right?"

"Well," Hikari started, "we did for a little while and then my dad and Suzahara-kun's dad and grandfather got hired back by NERV, so it looks like we'll be going to Hakone soon."

Maya nodded. "Then we'll see you around more often. I think the others will be glad to see you too."

Kensuke let his curiosity get the better of him. "Is it true that they've got _five _Evangelions operational now?" he asked excitedly.

"Um, I don't really know," Maya said, reluctant to give away any information, "but I'm sure Colonel Katsuragi will fill you in." The group in the elevator engaged in further chat on the long trip down, and then finally the doors opened. Ibiki slipped out, turning around quickly and telling them "I've got to go, we'll see you around, OK?" She waved bye, and then walked quickly down the hallway, showing her ID card to a guard who stopped her and then let her continue forward.

As the trio left the elevator another security guard, this time a female with a dark complexion dressed in the Alliance camouflage uniform, led them down the opposite way through several passages. As the children followed the guard they saw many technicians and other staff personnel walking in all directions around them. Some of them were wearing the blue and green camouflage of the Alliance, some had on the green and black uniforms of the New Japanese Army, and a few others that wore a different type of green, blue and black uniform that even Kenskue didn't recognize. Everyone wore a red armband with a NERV logo on their right arm. Kensuke again pulled out his camera and started to film around him, hoping he could get some interesting footage of inside the GeoFront before he was caught.

The guard led then down another passage and then down several flights of stairs to a separate section of the GeoFront. In addition to the uniformed guards the security in this section also included some black-suited men and women who responsible for protecting the EVA pilots themselves. Finally the guard showed them to a room that had red double-doors, with a placard on the wall labeled "PILOT LOUNGE."

Opening the doors and entering the three of them saw a spacious room containing lots of comfortable furniture, all of it brand new. Against one wall were a series of vending machines with everything from beverages to instant ramen available. On another wall was a large-screen TV that was currently displaying just the view from a digital camera of the top level of the GeoFront, facing Lake Ashii. At the far end of the room was a half-dozen video games of which both Kensuke and Toji recognized were the newest available. One of those machines was of the dance-pad variety, and on that one played two very familiar figures.

"Hey," Asuka chided Shinji, "Final wave this level, don't slack off!"

"You should talk!" he playfully shot back. Before she could answer the game started again and both of them focused on the patterns on the screen. They were playing a challenge match against the game itself, where both team members competed for a total score by striving to bring their footsteps in complete sync with each other, something that by this time Shinji and Asuka were now quite good at.

Unnoticed, the three other teenagers watched as the pair of pilots stepped and slammed their way against a pair of computer-generated opponents. Both Asuka and Shinji wore biketards with colored t-shirts over them, their hair and skin drenched in sweat as they worked their final round. At one point of the game the computer's challenge pattern was incredibly complex, which the pair answered by actually leaping over to each other's pad. Doing that several times within a couple of minutes they won the match as the game played a celebratory theme for them.

Shinji pointed to the scoreboard. "I got you this time! My score's higher!"

"Yeah, but I've got way more bonus points than you do. That's what really counts in this game, _baka!_" Asuka playfully poked at his chest as Shinji stood smiling at her on the step platform. She was about to kiss him when she saw the others out of the corner of her eye. "Uh, Hi!" she said excitedly, hoping that they didn't just see their now public display of affection.

Toji and Kensuke crossed their arms as Hikari stood there and narrowed her glance at the couple. "Hard at work defending the world, I see." Toji cynically told them.

"Ah, the luxurious life of an Evangelion pilot," Kensuke sighed. "All you can drink vending machines and video games, and young love on the line!"

Shinji gave them an embarrassed look as Asuka frowned, her hands on her hips. "Hah," she said to them, "We're freaking lucky to even be able to play this thing since we got it!"

"It's true," Shinji continued as they stepped down from the platform. "If you guys weren't coming over today we wouldn't have had so much time to play it, or anything else."

"They're working you _that_ hard," Toji asked, still skeptical.

"Oh, yeah," the boy replied. "Maybe even more than during the Angel War." As Shinji spoke to Toji he noticed that Suzahara-kun was standing up on his own, without crutches. "Toji," he said, "did you get a new leg?"

"Let me show you!" the taller boy cheerfully replied. Asuka stepped down from the dance platform and joined the others as they gathered around Toji. He quickly rolled up the pantleg on his blue tracksuit and showed the two pilots the mechanical appendage now in place of his right leg.

"He never gets tired of showing it to people," Hikari commented.

"It it painful?" Shinji asked him.

"At first it was," Toji replied, "and the stump always hurts when I have to take it off. But it's pretty good. The Alliance said this was the latest model for soldiers: its waterproof, doesn't get tired, and easily gives me an extra few centimeters off the ground when I jump."

Shinji was elated. "So you can play basketball again?" Suzahara nodded. "Damn straight. After I got this in and settled down, I did a 3 on 3 with some other boys at the physical therapy center at O-2. Oh, that felt good!"

The group of them sat down on a couple of couches, as Shinji and Hikari both got beverages from the vending machines for everyone.

"We haven't heard from you guys in a long while!" Hikari told Asuka as she sat next her on one couch. "The only news we got was from Mari when she visited us last week."

"Did she tell you about the cabin?" Asuka asked.

"Yes," Hikari replied. "Oh God, that must have been so scary!"

"I guess we pulled out okay," the redhead replied, trying not to look too concerned. "It's pretty much been non-stop training nearly since we got back."

Kensuke took a long swig at his soda. "The Japanese military is now part of NERV?"

"Yeah," Shinji said. "They're all over the GeoFront now, mixed in with the Alliance people."

"Is it true that there's _five_ EVAs now?" he pried further.

Asuka and Shinji looked at each other and then Shinji answered for them. "I don't know if we're supposed to tell you this, but they're starting to use the captures Harpies as EVAs."

"Wait a minute," Toji said. "You killed those guys!"

"They're cleaning them up and rebuilding them from the parts," Asuka explained. "Hell if I know who they're going to get to pilot them." When Kensuke heard that his eyes suddenly lit up. _Now's my chance!_

"There's other changes too, " Shinji went on. "We still defend Tokyo-3 but now we deploy outside the city more often. Asuka and I have been on two deployments already."

"Mari told us some of what was going on," Hikari explained. "But we were so worried because we didn't hear from any of you."

"Yeah, well," Asuka replied, "they don't let us out much! I think soon I'm going to be as pale as the First due to lack of sunlight." She looked through the windows in the front door and saw someone headed towards the lounge. "Speaking of that…"

The double doors opened and the visitors turned their heads to see who had entered. Now standing in the lounge was Patrick Forrestal and holding his hand right next to him was Rei, who looked more relaxed and happy than any of the children had ever seen her before. "Hey, Guys!" Patrick greeted them. "We heard you were coming!"

The classmates had each thought to say something but they were all in too much shock. While all of them knew of Patrick's affections for Rei, none had thought it would ever go farther considering Rei's very isolated and stoic behavior. There she was however, looking radiant and very definitely smitten with him.

Shinji broke the silence. "Are those the new uniforms?" he asked them.

"Yes," Patrick responded. "We just got them." Kensuke noted that they were the same as the unidentified uniform he saw when they entered the GeoFront.

Patrick looked down at Rei and asked her, "hey, turn around and let them see," twirling his finger. Rei happily complied, silently turning slowly to show off the new standard issue uniform she wore. In her case, the new female NERV uniform consisted of a dark green and blue pattern double-breasted jacket, with a matching dark green skirt embroidered with black and blue piping on the side. Underneath the jacket and skirt she wore a black turtleneck top and black tights with black leather low-cut boots. A large red-colored NERV patch was on her jacket's right shoulder, while a Japanese flag was on the left one. Patrick's male uniform was of a similar pattern, also with a double-breasted jacket and black turtleneck underneath, but he wore it with black trousers tucked into black boots. His left shoulder bore an American flag. "Pretty cool, huh?" said Patrick.

"They look dorky on both of you," Asuka chided. "Now I on the other hand will look pretty hot wearing that."

At this point Patrick just took Asuka's insults in stride. "Whatever. You'll get yours tonight per the colonel. Anyway," he continued, looking again at Rei who just kept smiling back, "we got stuff to do so we'll see you around."

"Okay, later," said Shinji. As the couple turned to leave the room Rei quickly waved with her hand and said "Bye!" smiling at everyone as she left.

Once the two of them were out the doorway, the three visitors let their jaws nearly drop to the floor. "She's…she's….she's…" Hikari and Kensuke exclaimed

"…normal!" Toji finished for them.

"Or as close to normal as she'll ever be," Asuka cynically commented.

"Did she switch bodies again, or something?" said Toji. Hikari quickly nudged him in the ribs. "How long have they been like that?" she asked more politely.

"Since the cabin," said Shinji. "They're pretty much inseparable now."

Asuka crossed her arms and leaned back on the couch. "You know they're going to break up any day. I'm surprised they got this far."

"Don't say that," Shinji shot back. "At least they're happy!"

Shinji was correct: Patrick and Rei were certainly happy. Since their date in Hakone, the two of them had spent nearly every available moment in each other's company. Given that NERV had accelerated the pilot's training schedules that wasn't particularly easy, and the two of them had to sneak in many moments just to be together. Together they were however, and the time and challenges of the last two weeks seemed to just fly by them.

After seeing the others in the pilot lounge Rei walked with Patrick to the pilot dressing rooms, as Patrick would conduct tactical training with the recently returned Mari Illustrious while Rei would yet again go down to Terminal Dogma to be a test subject for Dr. Foch.

"When will you be done?" Patrick asked her as they reached the ready room.

"It shouldn't take very long," she told him. "I should be available around two PM."

"I might not be done with the training session until after that," Patrick said. "Is three too late?"

"No," she replied. "I'll make time."

"Great. I'll see you next to the operations level." They parted company at the doorway, as she reluctantly released his hand and then started down another passageway. Going a few steps she quickly glanced back at him and saw that Patrick was still watching her, so she waved and smiled again and he waved back, and then Rei continued on her way down the hall.

_I still can't believe I pulled it off_, Patrick thought as he watched her go.

Once entering the pilot dressing room Patrick took off his clothes and took a minute to get his plug suit on. Even in his locker reminders of Rei were still present, as he had two photos of her wedged on one of the shelves. One photo was taken as she wore a white sundress, and she smiled at him in the picture. Patrick quickly kissed his finger, put the fingertip on the image of her in the photo, and then shut the locker door.

Entering the ready room, he saw Mari standing there waiting for him. She was wearing her new plug suit, and her eye patch was now also removed. "Hello, Pats!"

"Hello, Lusty!" he replied back. "I didn't see you at the Girl's Suite last night!"

"I spent the night at Wellie's, they were still remodeling my new bedroom yesterday. See the new getup?" She motioned at her plugsuit, this one being mostly identical to the NERV female suits but with the color in soft pink, giving it a very feminine appearance.

"You look lovely!" Patrick complimented. "It fits better than your old one?"

"I'll say. I can finally bounce now." she said, jiggling her breasts in the new outfit. The boy's face went momentary blush in response. "How was Osaka?" Patrick asked as he regained his composure.

"Splendid. Between Hikari's cooking and nightly outings of takoyaki I've must have put on five kilos. I had a wonderful time." Mari smiled at him sweetly. "And you, little boy, that smile on your face isn't just polite, is it?"

"No, It's not," he replied, as that smiled widened even more.

"So you broke through to your angel then?"

"Somehow, even I'm not sure how it did it, but just like that," he snapped his fingers, "there she is."

Mari crossed her arms and leaned against one of the large chairs in the ready room. "Is it everything you hoped for?"

Patrick plopped down on another chair facing her. "You know," he said, "it's not what I expected but it works just the same."

"What do you mean?" Mari asked, as she sat down herself.

"I was kind of thinking at first I'd have to sort of walk her through everything, the dating and all. On the surface she seems like she's sort of naive about this sort of thing but then once we're going together I take one step and she's right there with me, sometimes even ahead of me! "

"Oh," Mari replied, resting her chin on her hand, "you mean that she likes you back."

Patrick was incredulous. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You once told me that she's a deep thinker, it always seemed to you that there was a lot on her mind."

"Yeah?"

"Well," she said, "if she's gone this far with you and allowed you to see that side of her, I'd say she's done a lot of deep thinking about _you_. Certainly she's not taking anything about you lightly." Mari leaned slightly towards Patrick. "Seems to me you're still not quite convinced that she's fallen for you."

He we silent for a short moment as his thoughts ran through what Mari was trying to tell him. "Maybe I'm still in shock," he said.

"If she thinks your worth what trouble this might be for her to change," Mari concluded, "I wouldn't take that lightly either."

Patrick took a deep breath. "I just take this one day at a time. It's fun, actually. There's a lot more to her than anyone suspects."

"Of that I'm sure," said Mari as she got up off the chair. "Now that you _affairs d'amore_ are in order, I've got something that I need a bit of _your_ help with." Patrick leaned back on his own chair. "Okay, shoot away."

Mari leaned in on him, smiling widely but also giving him a look in her eyes that spoke of high determination. "I want you to get me a date with the Third Child!"

Forrestal about choked. "What?!"

"You heard me," Mari said. "You know him. How can I get through to him?"

"You want me to break up Shinji and Asuka for you," Patrick asked.

Mari was taken aback, if just a little. "I'm not trying to break them up _per se_," she said. "I just want him to know that he's got _options_."

The boy scratched his head, sighing a bit. "I can't say that I'm really in _that_ good with Shinji. I mean, we're friends and all, and it's kind of cool that I've actually met someone who went through some of the same stuff with the EVA that I did. If you actually want to date Shinji…you're going to have to get through the Valkryie first."

"I know," Mari pouted. "It's a bit of a challenge, that. She's very possessive."

"Considering that Shinji's surrounded by hot girls, yourself included," Patrick winked, "I couldn't say I'm surprised that Asuka keeps him on a short leash. Rei told me that those two are pretty tight, however. It might be more challenging than you realize."

"Well," Mari said, with more determination across her face, "I've faced challenges before. I'm sure I'm up to this one."

Patrick was split inside, as one side of him wanted Mari to be happy but also he was loyal to his roommate and especially his roommate's very close _relation_. "I don't know," he told Mari. "This isn't the sort of thing I'm very good at. What happened to Aida-kun?"

"Oh, that. Well," she mused, "He's _nice_." Patrick laughed at her opinion. "_Nice_ is like the kiss of death to lonely guys."

"It's not that he doesn't have some charms, and he certainly _tries_ hard," Mari said, "but I can't really say there's more to him that clicks for me. Besides, he's got some _interesting_ personality traits."

"You mean the military thing?"

"That's one. There was this moment in Osaka-2 when we're walking outside and having a nice chat, and then an Army train goes running next to us and out goes his video camera. Here I'm just standing there and he spends the next thirty minutes filming every tank and armored car. I'm just a passing fancy," she smirked. "His real love is for sinews of war."

"Anyway," said Patrick, "did you…tell Shinji yet of your own, um, _interests?_"

"I need to make the right moment for that," Mari said confidently. "I'm working on something now. I just need you to be there," she told Patrick as she sultrily sat down on his lap "when I need you to be. Fair?" Patrick resigned himself to her.

"Fair."

* * *

Maya crouched inside of the storage chamber, huddled between Hyuga and Aoba as Misato and Kaji sat against the opposite wall. They had chosen the location as it was one of the few areas inside the GeoFront that electronic surveillance didn't reach. Even though Kaji was now chief of security and intelligence for NERV, he didn't necessarily trust everyone who worked for him and had set up the room as a "safe house" where he could speak freely to Misato and the others. Maya still wore civilian clothes consisting of a yellow fashionable blouse and shorts, worn over white tights and runners. The controllers wore the new NERV uniform while Misato still had on her old red operations jacket over a khaki one-piece uniform. Kaji wore a white uniform shirt with a loose black tie and black slacks, a cigarette was in his right hand.

"A lot has changed since I was here last," Maya told the others. "I thought the Alliance would have difficulty getting EVA to run but having four operational units without the UN support is amazing."

"It was difficult at the beginning," Kaji said. "The Alliance team was very short-staffed, and much of the time there were only one or two units operational. However, their scientific team is quite good, especially Dr. Viraat, who likes to play Frankenstein with the Mass production units."

"What do you mean?" Maya asked the others.

"When they defeated the Mass Production Series, he had them put all the remaining units in Sub-Zero 01, the cold-storage area in Sub-Level D," Makoto Hyuga told her. "He's been thawing them out one at a time and then cutting them up for parts to build new units. That's how he got Unit 05 repaired when it was 95% destroyed."

"And now there's a complete unit made up from Harpies, that's Unit 07," Aoba continued. "The other Alliance scientist, Dr. Foch, has been working on a way to get it to activate without a core."

Ibiki raised her eyebrows. "How is he going to do _that_?"

"He's doing it by putting Rei in the entry plug," Misato answered. "He thinks that she's got the ability to sync with it."

"And then there's the new cores that the admiral found, hidden in the floor in Commander Ikari's old office" Hyuga added. "They're setting aside two cores for new units that Viraat is assembling."

"So that means we might have seven units after all," Maya determined. "Considering that it was nine Mass Production that attacked the GeoFront before I could understand wanting to be prepared. But does SEELE have that many more units?"

"Somehow they have additional units to the nine that attacked us," said Kaji. He took a drag on his cigarette and continued. "Three are spotted so far, including one which might be the lost Unit 06. We don't yet know their capabilities but their resources are quite vast. We could be facing a significant threat."

"Seven Evangelions is a lot of power," observed Maya. "Even NERV at our full strength didn't have that many. That could be seen as a big threat as well."

"The Alliance needs to be more upfront about how they're using EVA," Misato said, "I've tried to push them to be a bit more open about the project but they're worried about giving away too much of their capabilities. At some point, even with giving the new Japanese government a 50/50 share of the project's technology benefits, the rest of the world might think the Alliance could become dangerous."

"So we need to play off one side with the other," conclude Hyuga, "while at the same time stop SEELE from whatever it is they're doing and then find their base and take them out for good!"

Maya nodded in agreement, now feeling that she had returned at just the right time. "Has there been any progress with the MAGI?"

"None," Aoba told her. "The Japanese Air Force brought in their three best engineers last week, but no success."

Hyuga shifted his body to keep from cramping in the small space. "On the other hand the MAGI have at least let us continue operations with EVA. Whatever they're waiting on to fully unlock the core data banks hasn't happened yet."

Misato looked at Maya directly. "Which brings us to you. We need a trump card in case this marriage between the Japanese and the Alliance goes bad. Do you think you can get the MAGI to give us access to the core data banks?"

The young officer didn't answer at first but thought about the problem. "Hacking won't work. Sempai designed the defenses to be highly dynamic, especially with the upgrade she put in during the SEELE attack."

"If you took the power off-line and rebooted it that way…" Hyuga suggested.

"She could see it as a threat and set off the N2s that are hidden below here," Maya said, "or even just shut down completely with no power to anything here, like during the 11th Angel. We'd be sitting ducks for an attack."

Misato tilted her head, thinking about something Maya just said. "You said 'she', not 'they'?"

"That's right," Maya said. "They're three systems but after a while I just thought about them as one entity after all."

"The three sides to Akagi-sensei's mother's personality," Misato said.

"And maybe somehow that's the key," Maya wondered aloud.


	19. Chapter 18: Ghosts

That afternoon Rei again went down to Terminal Dogma, where she had intermittently spent the last month being scanned by Dr. Foch. Today was to be only a brief session, as the old scientist was only filling in any data that showed anomalies in earlier scans. After an hour of the process she came out of the scan tube, taking a bathrobe that Foch had laid out for her and tying it around her wet, naked body.

She was about to leave the room until Foch motioned for her to sit down at a table instead. Rei did as she was instructed and the doctor poured two cups of tea for the both of them. She immediately drank the tea, tasting it carefully first as had become her habit.

"Do you like it," Foch asked her.

"It's Darjeeling," she replied. The scientist's eyebrows went up in acknowledgment. "Very good, you know it. It's a rare tea now, as it used to be grown in India until Second Impact."

"This is synthetic," Rei commented further.

"Also correct. Have you had real Darjeeling tea?"

"The commander served it occasionally," said Rei.

"So you can differentiate between both versions, then?"

"Correct," she replied, sipping her tea further.

For the next minute as Rei drank the tea, Foch stared quietly at her. Unsure of what else she should say or do, she eventually finished the tea and gently placed it back on the tea cup. After she did so Foch took out a small envelope and pulled out a photograph. He slid it towards her on the table.

"Look at that photograph," he instructed, "and tell me what you see."

Rei studied the photograph. After a moment she placed it on the table, face up.

"Who is in that photo?" Foch asked her. She answered back without expression. "It is Ikari-kun's mother."

"That," the doctor motioned to the photo on the table, "was difficult to find. The schools Miss Ikari attended no longer exist, as they were destroyed in old Tokyo during the war. Fortunately she was in the newspaper once after winning a science contest as a middle school student, and there was still a record of it." Foch looked sternly at her. "What else do you see when you see that photograph?"

If Rei was uncomfortable she didn't show it. She studied the photo further, the girl in the picture was holding a medal, indicating a victory in a local science fair. Wearing a blue and white school uniform, Yui Ikari had the same face as Rei, but with darker eyes and hair, and a relaxed, wide smile that didn't seem like Rei's own smile. "Nothing else," Rei told him, placing the photo back on the table.

"You don't feel like that's you looking at yourself?"

"I am not her," she replied. "My body may come from hers but she is not myself. I am me."

"But you do have to admit that it might cause confusion for you at times, does it not?"

Rei was silent for a while as she considered where Foch was directing the conversation, and she didn't at all like the feeling she had at the moment. "Yes."

"In what way?"

"I am not sure," she replied, "but there are times when I feel that there is a path I can follow that leads to her."

The doctor pried further. "You can identify with her then."

"I can accept the part of me that was once part of her. I can accept that my connection to Ikari-kun is because of his connection to her. But what that part is and what that connection actually is I still do not know."

"Do you feel like that is destiny for you?"

She found herself startled at the question and realized that she was actually trembling a little, such was the directness of it. "I am at conflict with it," Rei finally said. "I am always at conflict with it."

Foch folded his hands in front of himself, in way that reminded Rei of the former commander. "I can scan your body all day long," he told her, "and study every atom in you but that still won't tell me what you're thinking. I find it intriguing that you see such a conflict within yourself, which would indicate that there's a large part of you that would like to just be Yui Ikari again which, being a clone, would be logical."

Rei's reply came with just the slightest tone of determination. "I am myself," she said, "and I am myself because I decide to be myself, and not be decided by someone else."

The old doctor tried to pry just a little bit further. "Was it that someone tried to define you as something _other_ than yourself?" he queried.

"I was meant to be a placeholder for someone else," Rei said stoically, "but my identity is my own. That was the choice I made."

He took a sip from his teacup. "Then far be it from me to interfere with that. I apologize for my abruptness. Sometimes as a scientist we push our way to answers we don't always expect, in our quest for knowledge. If I pry a little into the workings of your mind, that is my reason why. I hope that it wasn't too unsettling for you, mademoiselle."

"No," Rei said, feeling relieved.

Foch's mouth smiled behind his bushy moustache. "Then I'm honored that you are so direct with me," he told her. Standing up from the table, he then said. "I give you a choice, Miss Rei. I am complete with my task for the moment, you need not come down here again if you so wish it. But if having your own identity is what's most important to you and it seems that it is, then you must want to know more about yourself, yes? I don't possibly think that someone with such an observant and keen mind as yourself doesn't have questions about who or what you are. True?"

Rei didn't answer back but nodded instead. Her expression was emotionless, or at least it appeared to be that way to Foch.

"I can give you that chance to discover yourself, to find out what the parts are that make up the one known as Rei Ayanami. Work with me to fully understand yourself, body, mind, and soul, and I promise you I that I will share everything I find with you. You'll have knowing, hopefully understanding, and perhaps can even find a purpose in this examination for yourself."

"What do you receive in return?" Rei asked Foch. He removed his round glassed and looked straight at her, saying with the utmost seriousness. "I want to know how a young girl can become a god."

* * *

After rinsing off and putting on her uniform again, Rei travelled back up to the main operations deck in the GeoFront. Patrick had promised to meet here close to the command center so they could have a quick meal in between other training and operations-related appointments. It was only for thirty minutes, but the two of them had learned since they started dating to make the most of whatever time they had together.

Meeting Rei at the top of the elevator shaft was a security guard that Kaji had assigned to her, a Japanese woman in her twenties. Rei paid her no attention and simply started walking down the hallway towards Central Dogma, with the guard in tow.

As they walked down the hallway they passed the commander's former office, which was now taped off. The floor inside had been ripped open and Admiral Vinson had since moved to a new, temporary office closer to Central Dogma. Standing in front of the doorway as they passed by was a short Caucasian woman, perhaps about forty years of age with black hair and eyes, wearing a denim jacket and skirt, and who definitely looked like she didn't work at NERV.

"Um," she asked the two of them in English as they passed by, "is this the commander's office?" The security guard tried to answer the woman's question first, but her spoken English was actually somewhat limited and in the next minutes engaged in a very confusing conversation as Rei stood by and listened as the foreign woman spoke in an accent that was not familiar to her. As she watched, Rei also noticed the visitor's badge attached to the woman's jacket.

Unable to understand what the woman was asking for, the security guard thought to pick up her communicator. Rei then stepped forward herself to the unknown woman. The guard at first tried to waive her off, but Rei simply brushed off her warnings and spoke to her in better English.

"The commander has a new office that is a hundred and twelve meters from here," Rei explained.

"Oh, you speak English," the woman answered. "Thank you, young lady. Can you tell me how to get there?"

"Walk down accessway 34B and then make two right turns. There will be two guards in front. "

"Thank you very much, _senorita_," the woman replied. "Are you Japanese?"

Rei hesitated for just a moment. "Officially, yes."

"Oh," she said, "well, it's just that your hair is so unusual. How do you get it that way?"

As she was about to answer, Rei heard footsteps behind them and turned around to see Patrick Forrestal quickly walking behind them. "Hi, there!" he exclaimed as he reached out to Rei. As Patrick stopped to see who else was there he took a glance at the woman and stopped in his tracks. The foreign woman also saw Patrick in recognition, gasping silently. Both of their expressions became much more serious.

"Hello, Mrs. Vinson," Patrick said to the woman.

"Hello, Patrick," she replied back. Unsure of how to handle the situation, neither of them offered a hand to the other. The boy turned to Rei. "This is the commander's wife," he explained, and then after a moment "and Vance's mother. Mrs. Vinson," Patrick said to the woman as he gently held Rei by the shoulder, "this is Rei Ayanami. She's one of us."

Mrs. Vinson took a long look at Rei, who didn't say anything in return. Swallowing hard, she asked Patrick "Was this the girl who Vance…almost…" unable to help herself, the woman touched Rei's cheek. Still saying nothing, Rei looked pensive as the woman gently ran her fingers down the side of Rei's face. "So beautiful," she said to her softly, "to think that my Vance almost….killed…" her voice tapered off.

"Mrs. Vinson, you should know that…" Patrick started to say but the woman quickly turned away. "I'm sorry," she said to him. "I must go." Turning around, she quickly made her way down the hallway in the direction that Rei had pointed to her earlier. The two of them and the security guard watched her march down the hallway and out of sight.

"I'm sorry about that," Patrick told Rei.

"No need to apologize," she said. "You had met her before?"

"No. I saw her in Australia before the big raid on this place," he explained, "but I hadn't actually met her until today." Looking down the hallway where the Vance's mother had just hurried down he said "I guess that wound is still fresh."

"Parents shouldn't survive their children," Rei replied quietly. "That wound will never heal."

The commander's new office was perhaps fifteen minutes from the old one, and was largely a mess of desks, records and video monitors that staff officers had hastily put together. Standing above one of the desks was Admiral Vinson, now also wearing the new NERV uniform, and speaking to several others including Misato Katsuragi. As they were going over operational matters on the EVA's next deployment, Mrs. Vinson was seen standing in the doorway. It only took a moment for the admiral to turn around and see her there.

"Maria!" he said. "You found your way around okay?" She calmed herself down somewhat as she slowly walked towards him. "I had some help getting here. They sent me to your old office first."

"Sorry about that," the commander told her, "the new staff is still getting adjusted to things." To the staff around him he ordered, "Let's adjourn until 1400 hours." Released from the meeting the other officers started to leave while Vinson motioned to Misato. "Please stay for a bit, colonel," he asked. "I'd like you to meet my wife."

"Oh," Misato said as Mrs. Vinson stood close by to Admiral Vinson. The height difference between the two of them was at least 25 centimeters. "Pleased to meet you," she said in accented English.

Maria Vinson greeted Misato and then turned to her husband. "I bumped into the Forrestal boy just before getting here," she told him. The admiral's eyebrows arched as he heard that. "I see. Anyway, Colonel Katsuragi is in charge of pilot operations here," he explained. "All of the pilots are her responsibility."

"Mrs. Vinson," Misato started, speaking solemnly. "I just want you to know how sorry I am regarding your son." The woman nodded quietly. "Thank you," she replied.

"Please just know that the situation was very difficult on all sides," Misato told her, "and I wish very much things didn't turn out the way that they did."

Ignoring the issue, Mrs. Vinson asked Misato "Is it true that none of the other pilots have a mother?" The officer was reluctant to respond but the admiral then told her, "since what happened to my son I've informed my wife much of what we know about EVA. Please don't worry, she's_ very_ trustworthy."

"It's true," Misato told her, not entirely sure of how far she should go to explain further.

"That must be very difficult for all of them," Maria said. "Doing what they do seems next to impossible already, but I can't imagine how they can go on like that without a family to support them."

"Each pilot comes from a different background and home situation," Misato tried to explain. "Part of the challenge of working with them is to create an environment that is supportive of them as possible, while still trying to build them into a team that can work together. Given their very unique personalities it can get difficult at times."

"Children shouldn't have to do this sort of thing," the woman told her.

"I fully agree," the colonel replied. "Admiral, I'll have the deployment plan for Units 04 and 05 ready by 1800 hours," Misato said to Commander Vinson.

"What about the new pilot recruits?" the Commander asked.

"I'll be meeting with both of them later tonight."

Vinson nodded. "Tread carefully with them, colonel. I don't envy you having to do this."

Before leaving the room Misato asked Maria "Mrs. Vinson, will you be staying here with us from now on then?"

"No," Mrs. Vinson replied, "I'm just visiting."

"Then please take care. Thank you," she said and left the room.

After everyone else was gone and the door closed, Maria collapsed into Vinson's strong arms as he held her close to him. "I'm sorry," she told him, "you must think me weak."

"Not at all," the commander said.

"I saw the girl," she continued. "The one called the First Child."

Vinson sighed. "I had hoped you hadn't just run into them like that."

"It's okay," Maria told him, burying her head in his chest. "I'm glad I did. After meeting her I could see why things happened the way they did."

"Things happened that way because we were lied to," Vinson gently corrected, caressing Maria's black hair as he spoke. "Now I'm after the ones that are behind everything. And I won't stop until they're gone." The commander looked down at his wife. "Are you sure you won't stay here?" he asked her. "It's beautiful here, especially by the lake."

"No," she said, "I think that might be too much. Besides, I've known you long enough not to get in your way when you're like this. I just want to go back home, to Maine, to the house on the lake."

"I know it," Vinson said. "Johnny's really busy but he has been working on getting things secure stateside. Just bear with it a few more weeks, all right?" His wife nodded, and placed her head back on his chest. "Does Patrick know about his sister," she asked him.

"I haven't told him yet," the admiral replied, tightening his grip on her. "But maybe now would be a good time."

* * *

In the pilot lounge Toji sat at one of the tables as Hikari reached into a box with a toothpick and brought out one of the takoyaki balls that were inside. She showed it to him. "What do you think?" she asked with an expectant smile.

"Hmm," Toji pondered, "it looks like the same, but did you use the seaweed powder this time?"

"I did," she said, "this batch should be perfect." Toji opened up his mouth and Hikari gently took the takoyaki ball and popped it inside. He chewed it for a moment and said, "the dough's slightly off…"

"Oh, Toji!" Hikari scolded, "I brought these from home this morning! Don't expect it to be fresh off the griddle!"

"Alright! Alright!" he defended, "it's just fine. Really, you got the sauce down and the octopus is nice and chewy."

"Better be," she pouted slightly. Her mood recovered when Toji motioned for another ball, which she again happily popped in his mouth. He chewed and ate it and smiled wide, and Hikari answered with a big smile of her own, and dabbed his mouth with a napkin. She was about to kiss him when they were interrupted by the voice of Asuka, who along with Shinji had just entered the lounge.

"Oh for crying out loud," she said, "don't tell me he's got you feeding him by mouth now!" Hikari and Toji both blushed in embarrassment. "I…I was just testing the takoyaki she cooked," Toji protested, his arms folding as he tried to look serious.

"Well, it beats the food we have here," Shinji commented. As he spoke Mari came in from behind them through the lounge doors. "Hello, everyone!" she said cheerfully. The others greeted her as all of them sat down at the table while Hikari opened up another box of takoyaki. The rest of the children promptly fed on the goodies in the box as well as snacks and drinks that were already on the table.

"Did Pats come by here already?" Mari asked.

"The lovebirds won't be coming," Asuka replied. "I saw them both headed towards the elevators."

Mari stabbed a takoyaki and popped it in her mouth. "Well, I won't bother them. It's just we have a deployment scheduled and I wanted to get in one more training session with the two of us."

"Hmm. You think Ayanami-chan actually kisses him?" Toji pondered. Hikari sharply elbowed him in the ribs, forcing him to cough up a ball. "That's a question for another time," she said smugly as he tried to recover himself.

"Where's Kensuke?" asked Shinji, "he was supposed to meet us here."

"You know what probably happened," chided Asuka. "They probably caught him with that camera and hung him out by the lake."

Toji finally coughed everything out and took a deep swig of tea. "The colonel took him from here about a half an hour ago," he said to the group. "He's probably trying to get the pilot job again."

"But you said that Misato _took_ him," remarked Mari. "You don't think she's actually considering him for one of the new EVAs, do you?" Asuka scowled at Mari when she heard that. "Oh, God! Please ANYONE but him!" Just as the group was about to get into further discussion Misato entered the lounge. "Hello, everyone," she greeted the group.

Toji asked about the important subjects. "Are we getting dinner soon?"

Misato's expression was quite serious and not playful as she sometimes was. "Dinner will come later, Toji. Hikari?"

The girl raised her head, "Yes, Colonel?"

"May I see you for a few minutes?" Misato asked. "There's something I'd like to discuss with you."

"Uh, sure!" Hikari carefully put away her settings and then went out the door with Misato, leaving the rest of the group to speculate why she had been called out. It didn't take them long at all to come up with the reason.

"They wouldn't be thinking of her for a pilot too, would they?" Toji asked Shinji. The boy and Asuka looked at each other and mentally agreed on the same thought. "At this point," Asuka replied, "anything is possible."

"I wouldn't mind if it was her," Mari seconded, "she'd be pretty good, I think."

The thought of Hikari possibly being an Evangelion pilot was enough to concern Toji deeply. "Please, not her," he said as he felt his leg twitch.

Into the room then bounded Kensuke. He was wearing a broad smile on his face. Toji looked up at him. "What the hell's with you?"

Kensuke Aida happily replied "It's not official yet so I can't say anything but…YES! YES! YES!" He pumped his fists in the air as he did a strange happy dance in front of the others.

Auska stood out of her chair, infuriated. "No, no, NO!" she shouted in return. "It was bad enough when _he_ got picked," she motioned to Toji, "but not you!" She pointed directly at Kensuke. "A letch such as you is _undeserving_ of membership in the Grand Fraternity of Evangelion Pilots!"

Kensuke put his hands on his hips in a proud manner. "Apparently the colonel disagrees," he told her. "She asked me _first_ if I wanted to volunteer." Asuka gasped. "She didn't! Are we so _desperate _for talent that we have to stoop this low to find it?"

The other pilots looked at each other in surprise. Shinji, knowing better than anyone what it meant to pilot EVA, asked Kensuke. "What did Misato-san tell you _about_ EVA, exactly?"

Aida's good mood deflated once Shinji asked him the question. "Oh, _that_ part" he said with a twinge of sadness in his voice. "I kind of get all of that. I guess it's okay," he told all of them. "It's worth it."

Toji was more surprised than the others, who all seemed to have some secret knowledge that he didn't. "What is? What are they talking about?"

"Dude," Kensuke said to him in a more serious tone. "EVA's really fucked up."

"Tell me something I don't know already!"

"More than you know."

The other boy was now getting a bit irritated. "Such as?"

"Hey, Toji?" Kensuke asked, "Do you remember what I told you about Class 2-A? Why it was different?" Toji strained his memory: "Remind me."

"Why did only fathers and guardians show up on Parent's Day?" asked the newest pilot. "Why is everyone's mom…gone?"

"Oh, not the _no mother_ thing! You can't be _serious_ about that, can you?" Toji looked around, expecting support from the others in the room. Instead, however, were just pensive and serious looks from Asuka, Shinji, and even from the normally jovial Mari. "What the hell's that got to do with the EVA? You think too much, all of that military stuff in your head. Isn't that right, Shinji?" Shinji however gave Toji a very serious glance, and Toji noticed that Shinji's hands were silently clenching into fists. Seeing the reactions from the other pilots Toji was left to consider what exactly Kensuke's clues meant, and at first he tried to laugh it off. "Dude, you're scaring me here!"

"You _should_ be," Asuka replied to him with an unusually quiet and direct tone. "You got off lucky as far as we're concerned." The boy though to scoff at her statement but the memory of his own experience held him back. Toji Suzahara had not been an Evangelion pilot for very long: after only a very brief orientation he was inserted into the American-made Unit 03 and then at the moment of sync he had blacked out. When he had awoken in a hospital bed days later his leg was gone and he had no memory of the incident, only being told the story later than an Angel had processed his unit and then launched an attack on Tokyo-3. In the weeks that followed and he recovered, there was something that just bothered him about the entire experience with the EVA, however short that was, and Kensuke's statement had brought that up to the forefront of his mind again. _There was something elusive about the EVA_, he realized, _something familiar._

It took another long moment of silence for him to realize what is was, and after getting it Toji just exclaimed "Holy Fuck!"

Before they could continue further the sound of screaming came from the hallway outside the lounge. Toji knew the voice. "Hikari?" He quickly pulled himself out of the chair and moved as fast as he could towards the double doors. Going through he saw Hikari running out of Misato's office down and down the hallway. "No, no!" she cried as she ran blindly towards the other end of the hall. Standing in the doorway of her own office Misato looked after Hikari with regret in her eyes, sighing deeply.

"Hikari-chan!" Toji called out to her and before he could rush towards her both Asuka and Mari bolted out of the lounge. "Stay here. We'll take care of it, idiot," said Asuka as she rushed to catch up with Hikari. Mari also ran after Hikari but was stopped by Miasto.

"Yes?"

"I've never really gotten a chance to talk to you about everything," Misato told her. "I wasn't sure how much you knew."

Mari bit her lower lip in discomfort. "Let's just say it worked out on my own," she replied cautiously.

"If you ever need to talk to someone..." offered Misato.

The tall girl shrugged it off. "Maybe one day," she said, and then she turned to run down the hallway to catch up with the distraught Hikari. Misato watched her run down and out of sight, and then leaned against her office door in relief, blowing out a deep breath. A moment later footsteps were heard moving slowly down the hallway as Kaji appeared from around a corner.

"How did it go?" he asked her.

Misato shook her head. "About what I expected. One of them jumped at the chance, the other couldn't bear to hear what I had to say." She closed her eyes in discomfort. "I swore if I could help it there'd never been another child having to pilot EVA, but now here I am recruiting them myself!"

"A necessary evil," Kaji commented. "But if duty requires it, it's certainly better for them to know everything up front. True?"

"That doesn't make it any less terrifying," she replied, looking down the hallway. "We can't force them, but if they're going to take on this it's better if they know as much as they can in the beginning. I don't want them to be lost souls like the others were."


	20. Chapter 19: The Other Side of Me

**_SEELE-2_**

Omega carefully made his way up the narrow walkway to the ventilation chamber. While still a good five hundred meters underground, he could see above him air ports that led to the outside of the SEELE's hidden lair. The ports were very small, just large enough for a small object to get through them.

The agent took out a small box and quietly cranked a handle as balloon inflated on the top of the box. Once the balloon was blown up to size, he hit a switch on the side of the box with his thumb and then let the balloon gently float upwards towards the air vent. He stood and watched for a couple of minutes, silently egging on the balloon until it reached the port and stumbled its way outwards. Watching it escape Omega sighed in relief and started to make his way back down the walkway, hoping that the recipient of the message he was sending would receive it soon.

The balloon floated away and upwards into the atmosphere. After reached five thousand feet the small box switched on a transmitter and began to burst out a very short series of numbers for the next few seconds. The signal was repeated several times, and then following the last cycle the box carried out its last duty and blew itself up, a small cracking noise being heard by no one in the skies above it.

* * *

**_Tokyo-3_**

In the Boys' Suite, Rei sat patiently on the couch as Patrick finished working in the kitchen next door. Apart from Agent Kikuchi in his bedroom they were alone in the suite, as both of their schedules had finally allowed them a lengthy evening together.

Patrick walked out of the kitchen carrying a tray that had on it two glasses of tea and a pot, and also a bowl of popcorn. He carefully set it down on the coffee table in front of the couch and then he plopped down on the couch itself next to Rei. He hadn't changed out of his uniform although he removed his jacket and boots, while Rei wore a plaid skirt with black tights and a white turtleneck sweater.

"Got everything ready," he told her, picking up the remote control. "You have seen a movie before, haven't you?"

"I've seen two," Rei answered. "One was a film from Sweden called _The Seventh Seal_."

"Sounds ominous."

"It was about the acceptance of death."

Patrick smiled. "That must have been cheerful," he said facetiously.

"The other film was _Rascal Racoon_," she continued. "A young boy who's mother had died finds a baby raccoon and raises it. Eventually he is unable to keep it so he sets it free into the wild."

"Well," said Patrick, scratching his head, "I'll try not to be too depressing with my movie choices then."

Rei tilted her head sideways. "Depressing? Why would those be depressing?"

Unsure of how to respond Patrick just rolled with it. "How's science fiction for you?" Rei just shook her head.

"Good. Unbroken ground, then." He started the DVR and then handed over the bowl of popcorn to Rei. "Here," he offered. Rei took one of the kernels and looked at it inquisitively before Patrick also took one and popped it in his mouth. She then did the same, chewing on it and nodding affirmatively. Sensing the mood was now better, Patrick gently used the remote to dim the living room lights.

As they started to watch the movie Patrick wondered if she should put his arm around Rei or just leave it at how they sat now, just right next to each other. Sometimes she was hard to read, he thought,_ I always feel like I'm somehow intruding with her. _He decided against the arm but instead just gently scooted a little closer to her on the couch, and was rewarded when she then rested her head on his shoulder. _Good enough for now_, he figured, and he held the popcorn bowl between the both of them.

About two minutes in the movie Rei asked Patrick "why does it make a sound?"

"What do you mean?"

"There are in orbital space above a planet. There's no atmosphere so there's no way that sound can be carried, yet when that big spaceship fires on the smaller spaceship you can hear the sound of the weapons."

"Well, let's just say that science fiction films are as scientifically accurate as Shakespeare plays are historically accurate," he countered playfully.

"But that is not very scientific," Rei countered. "If it's Science Fiction, shouldn't there be science?"

"That's why it's called science _fiction_," he then said. "In the end it's as make-believe as Swedish films about the apocalypse. " Before they could continue further there was a knock on the door.

Both of them looked at each other as Agent Kikuchi moved from his bedroom to the front door. He picked up and read his phone, receiving a message from the agent posted in the hallway. After checking the message he keyed a response and then placed his pistol back into its holster on his belt. "You have a visitor," he told Patrick in a gruff voice.

"I wasn't expecting anyone," he said. Patrick looked at Rei, who just shook her head. Patrick got up from the couch and went to the door to open it. Standing in front was Maria Vinson.

"Mrs. Vinson!" Patrick said.

"Hello, Patrick" she told him. Her voice seemed to waver just a little.

"What brings you here?"

"I'll get to the point," she told him. "I spoke with my husband and he mentioned to me that you've never actually met your sister. Is that true?"

"Yes!" Patrick exclaimed. "I mean, I saw her once but she wasn't really…all there."

"I see." she continued, "I thought you might be interested in this." Mrs. Vinson reached into her handbag and pulled out an LCD tablet. "Some months ago the Admiral and Vance brought a visitor to our house in Maine. It was Erin, actually."

The boy's eyes went wide with shock as Rei got up off the couch and joined him in the doorway. "WHAT?!"

"At the time," she explained, "Vance had told me only that she was a friend from school, and the daughter of one of managers at the NERV-2 base. Her father was going to be away for a few days and he had suggested that she could join us at our lake house. So, she came and spent the weekend with us."

Patrick was speechless as Mrs. Vinson continued. "We took some videos while she stayed with us. Vance never told me what had happened to her afterward, I got the full story much later. After running into you I thought that perhaps you should see this." She handed the tablet to Patrick. "It's not that much," she said, "but, I think you'd like to see this just the same."

The boy cradled the tabled like it was made of gold. "I'll copy the files and return this to you!"

"No need," Vance's mother replied, "it was Vance's tablet anyway. He'd probably want you to have it."

Patrick took a deep breath and gulped down emotion. "Mrs. Vinson, I'm really…"

"Please," she told him. "Enough's been said. I can't change what happened, but if I can help bridge the gap somehow between you and your family, then maybe something good can come out of this."

The boy nodded with determination. "I'll return this to you tomorrow," he told her.

"I'm leaving Tokyo-3 tonight," said Mrs. Vinson. "I won't be staying here, I'm afraid. Just too many memories come up from being here, even though I've never been here before. " Patrick understood her meaning clearly. "Thank you," he said.

"Not at all," she replied. "Good night, then." Before Patrick could say anything else Vance's mother turned around and walked away towards the elevators, escorted by one of the security team.

After watching her go Patrick looked at the tablet in his hands and then at Rei. "The movie can wait, don't you think?" She nodded in agreement.

The two of them returned to the couch, sitting close to each other as Patrick paused the film and then switched on the LCD tablet. It was a newer model of Japanese manufacture and booted up very quickly after being switched on. The background screen featured an image of a two-story wooden house standing next to a lake, in an area that looked to Patrick like the New England countryside. There was a small dock with two powerboats on the lake by the house. _This was Vance's home_, he realized.

Patrick clicked on a folder labeled "ERIN" located on the desktop. Inside were a series of video files as well as still images, all probably taken with the tablet's own camera. He took a deep breath and looked at Rei. He was anxious to be sure but also quite nervous at what he would find in the media files. Rei didn't smile but gently nodded, giving encouragement to him. Patrick gave her a broken smile back and then after resting the tablet upon both of their knees played the first video file.

The first video was taken inside of the house, and started with the front door being opened. Inside the front door came in Admiral Vinson, wearing not a uniform but civilian clothes consisting of a flannel shirt and jeans. Following him was Vance, dressed in major-brand athletic wear. Each carried a pair of suitcases as they came in the door. Patrick's heart dropped on seeing the tall, muscular boy who had been at one point his best friend, and who had become his darkest memory.

As they greeted Mrs. Vinson (who was holding the tablet itself and wasn't seen on camera), Vance held the door open and in walked a petite teenage girl with short blonde hair. Wearing a green-striped shirt dress and sandals, she had a bright smile on her face and a cheerful disposition. As the camera focused on her face, her emerald green eyes, the same color as Patrick's, clearly stood out on her elfin face.

"Mom," Vance said, "meet our new houseguest!"

Erin put down a duffel bag and held out her small hand for the woman behind the camera. "Hi, I'm Erin Forrestal! Nice to meet you!"

"It's nice to meet _you_," the voice behind the camera said as a hand came out to shake the girl's hand. "I'm Maria. Please make yourself at home!"

The young girl looked around the house as the camera moved around her while the two men took the suitcases into another room while talking among themselves. Erin was clearly delighted with the Vinson's household which was filled with antiques and keepsakes, many of them with a nautical theme. "Wow! This is beautiful!" she exclaimed. "I'm so afraid to touch anything!"

"Wait till you see the lake!" Vance's voice called out from the back. Erin gasped. "Great! Can we go on it?"

Maria's voice was then heard. "Why don't you kids get settled down first and then Vance can take you out on his boat. Vance?"

"Yes, Mom?"

"Put her things in the guest room and then you can go boating this afternoon. I've got lunch all ready for everyone."

The file ended abruptly and Patrick moved to the next one. The second video was filmed on the lake behind the Vinson's house, as Erin sat in the back of one of the speedboats while Vance was piloting in front. She wore a green bikini top and shorts, which showed off her very slim figure and long legs. _Wow_, Patrick thought as he looked at his sister. _She's actually kind of cute_.

From the voices on the video Patrick could tell that Mrs. Vinson again held the tablet as Erin happily smiled and waived at the camera. As Vance gunned the engine and took a tight turn, the girl squealed in delight, throwing her hands in the air excitedly. As they reached the other side of the lake the boat slowed down and Vance got out of the pilot's seat as his mother spoke with Erin.

"So, are you having fun?"

"Oh, yeah! That was great!"

"Have you ever been on a boat before?"  
"No! This is the first time! " Erin told her. "We live in the desert so I've never gotten to do this before."

Vance stopped the boat and then walked over to Erin as the boat gently drifted in the water. Erin stood up as he came over.

"Was that cool?"

"Yeah!"

"Do you want to see more of the lake?"

"Okay!" Erin said enthusiastically.

"Here you go!" Before she could react Vance quickly used both of his hands and playfully pushed her off the side of the boat. Erin screamed as she fell of the side and into the cold water of the lake. She quickly resurfaced, shaking water out of her hair as she floated next to the boat. His mother's voice came from behind the tablet. "Now, Vance! That wasn't nice!"  
"But Mom," he said in mocking protest, "She said she wanted to see more of the lake!"

"Not that much more!" yelled a pissed Erin from the water. "VANCE, YOU ASSHOLE!"

The third video took place inside the house, as the Vinson family and Erin all sat around a dinner table. Mrs. Vinson was again behind the camera as Erin talked with the family and answered questions.

"Erin," Vance's mother began, "is this your first trip to New England?"

"This is my first trip practically _anywhere_," she answered. "I pretty much stay in Nevada all the time."

"Your parents don't take you on any trips? Or vacations?"

"I live with my dad in the Science City that's part of NERV-2. He's really busy with his work so I guess we don't get out much."

"And your mother?" Maria pried a little as Vance and the Admiral said nothing.

"Um, my mother died a long time ago."

Mrs. Vinson gasped. "Oh, my child! I'm so sorry!"

"It's OK," Erin responded cheerfully, "I was very young when she died. It was some sort of an accident in the laboratory. To be honest I don't remember much about her."

"Well, I'm sorry just the same. It must be difficult living without her."

"We've gotten used to it, I guess," Erin said with a sheepish expression. Before they could ask another question Vance suddenly held his hand to his head, grimacing in pain. "Honey," his mother asked. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Mom," he told her. "Just got these weird headaches, that's all."

Erin gently slid next to him. "Do you want some water?" she asked him. Vance nodded yes and Erin quickly ran to the kitchen to get a glass of water and bring it back to the table. For a moment the tablet camera just ran as it was set down while Mrs. Vinson got aspirin and gave it to her son. He popped them in his mouth, gulped down the water, and let out a big sigh of relief. Erin smiled and a moment later everyone went back to their places. Admiral Vinson started again with questions for their guest, changing the topic. "Do you like it here, Miss Forrestal?"

"Oh, yeah!" she said enthusiastically. "I can't believe you've got your own lake!"

"We own the property out back a mile north," Vinson told her. "In the fall we go hunting for deer."

"What?" Erin said with dismay. "You mean you _shoot_ them?"

"What's wrong with that?" Vance interjected.

Erin gave the boy an annoyed glance. "Nothing, as long as they can shoot back!" There were chuckles around the table.

"So Erin, you go to school with Vance, yes?" his mother asked. She nodded in response while eating.

"What do you like to do when you're not studying?"

"Well," Erin mused, "I'm pretty busy with piloting these days." As she said that, Vance's face turned ash white and the Admiral stopped eating as well. Vance gave Erin a very narrow glance as she gulped in nervousness. Vance and his father had not told Mrs. Vinson about Evangelion at that time and especially about the EVA pilots, keeping it a secret from her.

"Piloting?" Mrs. Vinson asked. "You mean like airplanes?"

"Uh, yes!" Erin quickly corrected. "That's it, that's the ticket! Yes, I'm learning to fly airplanes in my spare time!"

"Incredible! You're so capable as such a young age!"

The girl laughed nervously. "Oh, it's not so difficult. Kinda fun, actually." She smirked at Vance as they were all relieved by Erin's answer.

"Is that all you do?"

"I like sports," Erin told the mother, now more comfortable again. "I play tennis and I swim. I do gymnastics too."

* * *

"Her eyes smile like yours," Rei remarked to Patrick as they watched the video.

"What do you mean?"

Without saying anything further, Rei's used her tiny fingers to quickly alter the controls on the tablet surface, reversing the video file about ten seconds prior and freezing the image as Erin smiled broadly. "When she's happy her eyes make smiles." It was true: on the screen image Erin's eyelids made little "smiles" as her eyes squinted. "Your eyes look the same way," Rei told Patrick, "when you're very happy." Patrick studied the frozen image of his twin sister on the tablet. _That's one thing we share_, he thought to himself, _but what else do we really have in common, being that we've always lived apart?_

* * *

Patrick continued the video as the voice of Mrs. Vinson came on again. "It sounds like you're a very talented and charming girl," she concluded. "A pity we couldn't meet your father."

"Trust me," Admiral Vinson said, "you _don't_ want to meet her father."

"Oh, he can't be _that_ bad!" Maria protested.

"My dad's nice but," Erin explained, "sometimes he's a bit of a control freak. Too much time on the computer I think."

"Then it's a good thing he's got you there next to him to keep him grounded. Erin, do you have any brothers or sisters?"

"No, ma'am," she said. "It's just me."

There was one more large video file on the tablet and Patrick played it immediately after the dinner film. In the last video Erin was sitting on a large comfy chair in what looked like a guest bedroom. The room itself was decorated with various keepsakes and had a garden theme to it. Wearing a white polo shirt and green golf skirt, Erin looked out the window of the bedroom with a melancholy look on her face, smiling only when Vance interrupted her.

"What'cha thinking about?" Vance asked as he held the tablet.

"Oh, I had that dream again," Erin said.

"The one with that boy in the mountains?"

"Yeah, only I just realized something. _I'm_ the boy."

"That's weird. How did you know?"

"I just knew," she replied. "That's all."

"You didn't just reach down inside your pants and…" Erin immediately bashed Vance with a pillow from the chair. "You are _so_ gross! Of course not!" She protested. "Besides, I don't really control the dreams, they just sort of come. It's like I can see what he sees."

"And just what does he see?" Vance pried, halfway in humor.

"There's this cabin in the woods and someone else is there, some older guy who I can't see clearly. And that's about it really."

"I know what this is really about," Vance said smugly. "You're just lonely for a boy in your life."

"I am not," said Erin, crossing her legs on the chair. "I'm just fine the way I am now."

"Then why do you keep imagining this guy?

"Hey, a girl can dream, can't she?"

"Oh, so you _are_ in love!"

Erin pounded on Vance with the chair cushion again. "You stop it! That is none of your business!"

"It's okay," Vance said, "I've got it all on video." The girl's eyebrows went straight up. "You delete that now, Vance Vinson!"

"Make me," he teased. Erin immediately grabbed the chair cushion and attacked him behind the camera's view, playfully beating him amid giggles from both of them. The tablet tumbled to the bed as she jumped towards Vance, making her displeasure known at having herself filmed a little too much. Patrick could hear muffled sounds from both of them as the tablet's camera pointed down at the bedspread and the video file went black.

* * *

General Sheffield sat in his quarters, sipping tea and reading on an LCD tablet as he gently picked up his pipe and put more tobacco. Like Kaji, he knew smoking was against NERV policy but made the arrangements with him to have his quarters excepted. Rank had its privileges, of course.

Just as he was about to light his pipe, another device buzzed and Sheffield picked it off the table. Reading the sequence of numbers given, he quickly ran a decoding program and obtained a second set of numbers. Taking a moment to determine the meaning of the message, it soon became clear to him and he pulled up a global map on his larger LCD tablet. Smiling to himself, he then picked up his phone.

In the secondary operations room, Admiral Vinson went over with the other senior NERV leadership the planned deployment of Units 04 and 05. With the expectation that they would deploy to Central Asia and possibly in the Himalayan mountains there were a number of special requirements for the EVAs that needed to be worked out and Vinson reviewed the plan along with Misato, Hyuga, and other staff officers. In the middle of this the Admiral's phone buzzed and he immediately picked it up.

"Vinson."

"We have a priority message from Omega." Having his attention, the commander broke away from the others and walked quickly to the hallway. "Talk to me," he whispered.

"It's a set of map coordinates," Sheffield reported. "Location is in Yunnan, in Southern China."

"Is it the base?" Vinson asked in anticipation.

"No, I'm afraid. Omega had a pre-arranged code if he identifies their stronghold. However," the British officer continued, "there's a senior Chinese commander named General Lin who's been marshaling his forces there in preparation for a move on the Bejing government. He's been quietly contacting us asking for support. It's possible that SEELE plans to hit him before he becomes trouble."

"So this is their next target? Not the Himalayas?"

"Likely." Sheffield concluded. Vinson gave it a moment of thought and then mentally shifted gears. "Then let's call an audible and switch our efforts. If we're lucky we can catch these bastards on the ground." Vinson hung up the phone and then hurried back into the operations room. "Colonel!" he shouted at Misato. "Change the game plan. New target!"

"What?" Misato asked in surprise. Kaji entered the room at that moment.

"No time to explain it," Vinson said. "Get 04 and 05 on air transport and get them up in the air in 90 minutes. Here are the coordinates." He handed a slip of paper with the map location that Sheffield had given him. Misato took the slip and then gave it to Kaji, who nodded and handed it back to her. "It's South China," Kaji said. "Is this about Lin?"

"It is," the Admiral answered. "If SEELE thinks he's important enough to go after, then maybe he is. " He clasped his hands together, shouting "Let's Roll!"

As the staff quickly worked to incorporate the new target, Kaji silently motioned to Misato to go outside the staff room. She quickly followed him.

"What the hell was that?" she asked him in whispers.

"They've got an intel source _inside_ of SEELE," Kaji told her. "There was some sort of coded transmission that went directly to Sir John."

Misato was incredulous. "Then why don't they just tell us where the freaking base is!"

"There's a game being played on all sides," said Kaji, "but to what end I'm still not sure." Misato let out a sigh. "Here we go again," she said in resignation.

* * *

Patrick had spent the next hour replaying the videos on the tablet over and over again, and in addition he also opened up many of the photos that were saved on the device. Many of the pictures were of Vance and his family, but there were more than a few of Erin as well and Patrick looked at each one of them.

He sat back on the couch for a moment to give his eyes a rest. Rei at first had silently sat with him as he went through each of the media files on the tablet. She had then let fatigue take over and now she was asleep on the couch, her head gently lying on Patrick's lap as he caressed her hair while he played the videos again.

The boy closed his eyes and thought about everything in perspective. He admitted at that moment he felt conflicted. On one part he was finally glad to see something of his twin while she was healthy and alive, and the videos and photos showed how radiantly beautiful and fun-loving she was. At the same time Patrick realized that was not the way she was now. Erin was alive, he knew, and awake most probably, but something had gone wrong. In his occasional nightmares and premonitions he had the strongest feelings of fear and even anger. Wherever she was, she wasn't comfortable and could very well be held against her will. Meanwhile, Patrick had friends and comfortable surroundings. It wasn't fair to her.

He shook his head awake, as he knew it wasn't so simple. Patrick had nearly been killed in the EVA a month earlier, and what he was doing now as a pilot was perhaps just as dangerous. He was piloting of his own volition, though, and not as a captive. So while Patrick was spending what had been the time of his life with the delicate, gentle, and captivating Rei his other half was imprisoned somewhere far away, lonely and alone.

_I have to find her somehow_, he thought to himself_. I can't let her just suffer like that._ _But how?_ He had told Alliance intelligence everything he knew, everything he could think of that had come through his dreams and other images that had run through his mind. Perhaps he could go look for her himself, but how could he do that now? He was needed at NERV as an EVA pilot and not only that but there was Rei, too. Patrick couldn't imagine leaving Rei now to go outside and search for Erin. Somehow he felt, the EVA had to provide a way for the two of them to find each other. In the current circumstances however it seemed impossible to him, and he felt horrible inside his heart for it.

Kikuchi suddenly came out of the kitchen and approached Patrick. "There's an alert," he said to him.

"It's an attack?" a startled Patrick answered.

"No, you're being deployed early," the security agent answered. The front door buzzed and inside bounded Moria Wellington. Mari followed her, wearing a camouflage uniform and carrying a duffel bag.

"Time to go," Wellington told Patrick. "They've got something going on now and they want you two in the air immediately." The boy nodded and then gently shifted Rei's head from his lap to the couch.

"You got your deployment bag ready?" Wellington asked Patrick. He was about to answer when Kikuchi handed him the bag from his bedroom. "I guess so."

"Right, off you two go," she said. "We'll get you to the hanger so you can get on board."

Forrestal didn't immediately get off the couch but gently caressed Rei's sleeping head as she was completely oblivious to everything. He had hoped to at least say goodbye to her before going on deployment, but now it had come early and he didn't want to disturb her now. Mari stooped over to dote on the sleeping Rei. "She looks so childlike when she's like this," she whispered. "It's awfully cute!"

"I know," Patrick replied. "She said she doesn't have any dreams, but it's hard to believe when you see her so peaceful like that."

"Perhaps she just visits Heaven in the times she's not here," Mari suggested, and it brought a smile to Patrick's face to think of that. He gently stood up off the couch, careful not to wake Rei. "Can someone get her back to the girls' suite?" He asked Wellington.

"I'll do it," she said. "Now get going, or they'll take the EVAs without you!"

"Good night - See you when I get back." Patrick gently bend over to kiss Rei on the forehead and she shifted just slightly as he did so. He then grabbed his bag and followed Mari out the door as they rushed towards the elevators with Kikuchi leading the way forward.


	21. Chapter 20: Ambush

Toji stood in front of Hikari, stunned by what he had just heard. "You did _what_?"

"I signed up to pilot," she told him again as they stood alone in the boys' suite. She faced away from him, knowing what his reaction would be.

"No, no, no," he told her, shaking his head. "Don't do this!"

"I have to," she said softly. Because of Hikari's earlier reaction to what Misato had told her about the Evangelions and their true nature Toji had assumed that she would be unwilling to become a pilot. To find out that she had now actually volunteered was a complete shock to him.

"No," Toji said more forcefully, "you _don't_ have to! Not you."

She looked up at him, sheepishly. "I knew you wouldn't like it, but I have to do this."

Toji moved closer to her, trying and failing to control his temper. "Is this what you really want?" Hikari looked away again. "No," she told him softly.

"Then why the hell did you sign up?!" he shouted. Hikari turned around and faced him, her eyes watery. "I _have_ to do this!"

"Not you," he said, now with his hands on her slender arms. "Let someone else pilot."

Hikari narrowed her glance at Toji at that. "And just who else should it be?"

Momentary fluxed by the question, the boy gave it just a little thought. "I don't know! Hell, let Nakamura-kun try it. He's violent."

"Nakamura's a bully," Hikari replied. "Would you trust him with an Evangelion?"

"Then how about Tanaka-kun," Toji suggested. "He could handle it."

"Tanaka-kun's father is old and he has three sisters," Hikari countered. "I couldn't do that to them!"

"It doesn't matter," Toji told her. "I don't want you in there!"

"But that's just it!" she protested. "If not me then they'll pick someone else. I kept thinking who they would pick instead of me. Maybe they'll get Nakamura-chan, she'll do anything to get attention. Or maybe it's Keiko-chan, she's so docile and polite she won't refuse it. But if something happened to any one of them I couldn't take it!"

"Hikari-chan, if something happens to you, _I_ couldn't take it! What about your family, your dad and your sisters?" he asked. "Have you thought about them?"

"I talked it over with Ane-san," she said. "She said go ahead, she'll take care of the family."

"_Kodama's_ going to take care of everyone? Are you _crazy_?"

"Toji," Hikari told him with tears running down her cheeks. "I'm the class representative. They chose me to take care of the class. I _have_ to do this."

"Hikari, when Ayanami blew up that Angel the school was wrecked. There isn't a class 2-A anymore."

The girl lost her temper, clenching her fists in anger. "Don't say that! Don't _ever_ say that! We're still a class! We're still together and...and..." She pounded on Toji's chest with her small fists but found she couldn't continue after a few times and instead buried her head in his chest as she continued crying. Suzahara comforted her as she leaned into him, gently stroking her black hair with his hand. He waited a moment until she found a way to regain some composure, as Hikari took a few deep breaths and then finally started speaking again.

"Toji," she said to him, her voice still choked up. "You have me forever, you know that. But please…" Hikari looked up at him as she wrapped her arms around him, "please help me do this!"

Suzahara softened his glace at her. "You're scared, aren't you?" he asked in a low voice as he continued to stroke her hair. Hikari nodded, her face pleading with him. It was clear to him that she was conflicted between her own strong sense of duty and the very reasonable fear of being an EVA pilot, and Toji had to admit she had showed more guts than he ever expected from her in volunteering despite all that she she had been told about the reality of the Evangelions.

"It's okay," he told her, smiling and trying to be reassuring. "I've got your back." Hikari nodded in thanks and then squeezed him as tightly as she could, closing her eyes and letting him hold her and just hoping that the moment could last forever.

* * *

After a few hours in the air Patrick's Unit 04 was ejected out of its carrier aircraft over Southeast Asia. As it pushed out of the C-5M transport at 10,000 feet parachutes were immediately pulled and EVA-04 drifted over a mountain pass and into a plateau that has hastily lit up as a landing zone. On the way down he could see that Mari's green-painted EVA-05 was already waiting for him on the ground. After he had landed Patrick partially ejected the plug and then climbed down the rope ladder from the entry plug door to the landing zone. Wearing her new pink plugsuit Mari was standing nearby and waived at him to join him in a green tent a few hundred meters away.

Inside the camouflaged tent was Misato , wearing combat battle dress. She quickly waived to both of the children, motioning to a water cooler at the other end of the tent while she spoke on a telephone with someone else. The pilots had just a moment to drink water and catch up on the flight until Kaji entered the tent. He was also wearing combat battle dress, and with him was a Chinese military officer. Once Kaji and the man arrived Misato finished her call and then gathered the two pilots.

"We're all here," she said. "Any sign of them?"

"Not yet," Kaji told her. "if the intelligence is correct we should expect them to be here within the next two hours."

"What's the op?" Patrick asked the two NERV officers.

"Ambush," Misato replied. "We've got intel that two Harpies are on their way to Yunnan. Your job is to nail these guys once they hit the ground."

"Sounds like fun," Mari told her, her mouth brimming wide in a smile.

"How the hell do they know that?" Patrick asked Misato.

"Something the Alliance is running," Kaji answered for her, "and even we don't know the actual source." Misato nodded. "We're sort of winging it at this point," she added, "but if this Intel source they have is good it gives us a big one-up on the bad guys."

The Chinese general who came in with Kaji was staring at the two EVA pilots. "They're children!" he said in astonishment. "So the rumors about the Evangelions were true then?" he asked Kaji.

"Yes, General Lin," Kaji answered. "Now if you don't mind keeping that quiet for the time being."

"Of course, but, are they capable of doing this type of mission?"

Misato turned to the general and folded her arms. "Our pilots are very experienced in fighting SEELE's own EVAs," she said firmly, a confident smile on her face. "Both of these pilots are well trained and will not let us down. Right, guys?"

"Of course," Mari told her, "we'll be sure not to embarrass the Japanese team with our own prowess." Patrick just nodded and gave the Chinese general a toothy grin.

"Anyway," Misato said to Lin a little nervously, "they'll do just fine." Kaji saved her by changing the subject, as Misato shot a dirty look at the still smirking Mari.

"General Lin," Kaji started, "to set this up with the best chance of success, we need to create an attractive target for the opposing force. Can you move your armored division into LangWha?"

"LangWha's an abandoned industrial city not far from my army's current location," said Lin. "We can deploy there within the hour. Do you intend to fight them in the city?"

"Yes, but not with your division. Once moved into the city center, we'd like you to evacuate your men outside the city itself. The division's heavy weapons and equipment will be used to create an enticing target for SEELE."

Lin was skeptical at what was shaping up to be a high-risk plan. "And then what happens after you disarm my troops?"

"Two Mass-Production EVA units will undoubtedly attack what will appear to be the strongest concentration of enemy forces on the ground, much as they did in Georgia recently. Once on the ground our EVAs will launch a surprise attack using low-yield N2 warheads."

"N2s!" the renegade Chinese general exclaimed. "You'll destroy the city and my best armor units doing that!"

"The enemy units are believed to possibly be running without S2 engines, which limits their time on the ground." Kaji explained further. "We need to make quick work of them before they can fly off and evade us."

The general was still unconvinced. "That's a high price to pay to kill two enemy units. What happens if you fail?"

Kaji moved over to a map that was posted inside of the tent. "If we fail you'll have more to worry about than a lost division. On the other hand, _when_ we succeed and after the Harpies are destroyed the Alliance will immediately offer both EVA units in support of your own forces against the pro-SEELE Chinese forces in the region. I think that would supplant the loss of a few hundred tanks and artillery, would it not?"

Considering the situation carefully, Lin rubbed his chin as Kaji and Misato waited on his answer. "High risk means high gains," Lin finally told them. "When I take over the rest of China I suppose the Alliance will want recognition, as well as monetary support?"

"We're not unreasonable, I'm sure we can work out something equitable," Kaji concluded diplomatically.

"Very well," the general said. He then pulled out a satellite phone and started a rapid conversation in Cantonese to begin maneuvering his units into position.

* * *

After the final mission briefing, both Patrick and Mari took their EVAs and moved under cover of darkness several kilometers to the edge of a mountain valley. Within sight of their destination was LangWha, which from a distance looked like any other industrial city but yet eerily quiet and dark. In the time remaining to them, Patrick commanded Unit 04 to dig into the side of the mountain itself, draping a large camouflage tarp over the EVA when a hole large enough to fit the Evangelion was carved in. Mari in Unit 05 did the same on the other side of the valley. Folding himself into his hiding place Patrick could see trucks full of soldiers, probably men belonging to the renegade Chinese general they were they to support. They were fleeing the city after moving dozens of tanks and cannon into the city grounds.

Patrick settled into the entry plug throne and tried to keep himself awake and focused, concentrating on the city in front of him. As part of the action plan Misato had given him the N2 cannon, loaded with live nuclear-armed rockets. In the ambush once the Harpies flew into the trap Patrick would hit them with the N2s and after the enemy was stunned Mari would then rush them in EVA-05 while he provided cover from his own firing position. As Forrestal sat in the entry plug he could see the dark sky of the early morning, the stars silently twinkling above what was about to be a battlefield.

On the entry plug video screen, Mari's face popped up in a private window. "So, all set?" she asked him cheerfully.

"I'm ready," he said calmly. "Are they going to show up soon?"

"The colonel says it should be any second now."

To get himself to relax, Patrick switched the subject to something completely unrelated. "So…have you talked to Puppy-kun yet?"

"Not yet," she said, "I'm waiting for the right moment."

"You got your work cut out for you there, you know."

"Don't worry, mate. I've got all sort of feminine wiles at my disposal. Besides, I found out something else about our Shinji."

Patrick's interest was piqued. "Oh really?"

"Asuka's not his first love," she told him. Before being able to explain further Misato's image came on the video. "We've got visual on two aircraft coming straight here. Get ready!"

"Roger," both pilots said in unison.

"Remember," Misato went over with them again. "Wait until they hit the ground and then Unit 04 hits them with the N2s. It won't destroy them, but it will damage both units enough to keep them stalled regenerating while Unit 05 rushes in. Once 05 is engaged, " Misato spoke to Patrick directly, "then 04 closes in and finishes them off. Be patient!" she chided, "timing is everything on this."

Patrick took it seriously, nodding in the affirmative. "Yes, ma'am."

"Good, kids. Now wait for my signal." Misato's video then snapped off. "See you on the other side, Pats!" Mari winked at him, and she closed her video screen as well.

For the next very long minute Patrick kept his eyes peeled to the night sky above. The sun was just starting to creep up from the eastern edge. Patrick knew from his training and from being in enough military operations that attackers often favored the dawn, as the sunlight would get in the enemy's eyes at the lowest angle while the opposing force pressed their advantage.

He squinted at something coming out of the horizon as his visual sensors filtered out the sunlight. Within the next second, the targeting computer identified two fast-moving targets gliding downward towards the city. Patrick saw their broad wings and the spears they carried and knew they were Harpies. "Got 'em on visual," he said softly. "Second that," Mari said a half-second later.

"Ready on my mark," came back Misato's reply.

The Harpies landed down in the city center, moving around the tall buildings and industrial equipment that was there. They looked around and searched for activity, anything that was moving that they could kill. As they began prowling on the ground their wings folded into their backs, morphing into black and white carapaces on their outer skin. Patrick focused on the monitor and saw the target rectal for the N2 cannon appear in between the two white enemy EVAs. The rectal's circular gunsight changed color from red to green, indicating an optimum shot.

_If nothing else I'll go down as the youngest kid to ever fire a nuke,_ Patrick thought to himself.

"Unit 04, now!" Misato shouted over the audio. Patrick quickly pulled on the throne's hand actuators and could feel the recoil of the rocket leaving the launcher.

Fired from three thousand meters away, the N2 rocket only took a few seconds to reach its target. Both Harpies turned their heads, alerted by the flash of the rocket motor starting once it had escaped the launch tube. Swiveling towards the oncoming rocket, they spread their wings out and then both of the EVAs projected AT fields directly in front of them.

For conventional weapons the Evangelions' AT fields would have been sufficient to knock the rocket out once it struck the field. Being originally conceived to use on Angels, the rocket that EVA-04 had fired was designed by NERV to account for this and the moment it made contact it initially detonated one N2 warhead carried in its nose. The AT fields absorbed the energy in the explosion but in doing so the fields themselves were folded back towards the EVA. In the ensuing impact a second warhead, placed at the middle of the rocket, then exploded. Specially designed to function like a "shaped charge" it blasted its explosive energy in a narrow cone right towards the Harpies. Because their AT Field had already been reduced from the prior blast the energy from the second, larger N2 warhead was able to punch right through the AT field for the extremely brief moment that it was curved in response to the first explosion.

As the cone of intense fire struck the two Harpies they screamed in agony as the city they were standing in the middle of was blasted away by the explosion. Dark clouds of fire, mass, and smoke covered the horizon as the reaction of N2s with the EVA's AT fields absorbed nearly everything in Patrick's vision. The air itself seemed to rumble loudly with the blast as Patrick squinted from the brightness of the explosions. After the last explosion dissipated he opened up his eyes more and tried to make something out from inside the clouds of smoke and debris. Patrick had hoped that a blast as violent as that could kill both of the Harpies, but he knew better.

"Waiting on visual for targets," Misato's voice came out on the speaker. A few very long seconds went by as the black cloud engulfing the city started to thin out. Through the shadows inside Patrick could make out just a couple of silhouettes of something still standing up in the middle of the now devastated city.

"Visual on targets," he called out loudly. "Still standing!"

"Unit 05, go!" ordered Misato.

To EVA-04's right on the opposite side of the mountain valley Unit 05 came bursting out of her camouflage net. Running at top speed with progressive knives in both hands, EVA-05 quickly rushed into the city ruins and straight towards the two silhouettes.

"Patrick, cover her!" the colonel ordered, and Patrick dropped the N2 cannon and unslung the Pallet Gun mounted on his EVA's back. As Mari rushed Unit 05 straight towards the two Harpies, Patrick quickly fired bursts from his pulse rifle towards the enemy EVAs.

Racing to face both of the enemy units Mari leapt Unit 05 over several ruined buildings and then dove right into the two Harpies that were standing in front of her. Their skin was black but beginning to turn back to white as they slowly recovered the blast damage. Landing in between both EVAs, she slashed hard with the progressive knife in her right hand at one Harpy's neck, bringing off its head as LCL splattered all over. Moving swiftly to her left she took her other progressive knife and stabbed it in the heart of the second Harpy. It fell over backwards as LCL sprayed out of its' back.

Not wasting any time Mari took a lance that was mounted on Unit 05's back and pulled it out of its holder. As the Harpy to her right was wriggling on the ground and trying to grow back its head she plunged the lance straight through the chest and all the way to the entry plug in the rear. More LCL came splashing out like a geyser as she stabbed at it several times to ensure it was dead.

Behind Unit 05 came walking Unit 04, Pallet Gun in hand as Patrick piloted the EVA to where the downed Harpies lay in the middle of the devastated city center. As Patrick reached where Mari was standing he could see that the Harpy on the ground to the left of her was squirming, its body trying to recover the damage inflicted by EVA-05's strike.

"Pats," Mari cheerfully called out to Patrick while she continued stabbing at the Harpy she was on top of, "Be a dear and put that bugger down, would you?"

"My pleasure, Lusty!" Patrick replied with a grin. He aimed Unit 04's Pallet Gun straight at the head of the Harpy on the ground while it struggled and put three rounds point-blank into its head. The eyeless skull exploded as LCL gurgled out of its oversized mouth. Patrick winced a little at the sickening aftermath of tissue, organs, and fluid that oozed on the ground.

After Mari finished with the first kill she moved over to the second, now headless Harpy and again stabbed it with the Lance, striking several times until she was sure the entry plug was cut in pieces. The white beast writhed for a few last seconds then went limp. EVA-05 kicked it hard another time just to check for any life left in the giant. Satisfied that there was none, Mari leaned back in her throne and let out a big sigh of relief. Patrick did the same, greatly relieved that this most recent battle had ended so favorably. "Finally, an easy one," he told Mari as he opened up a video channel to her.

"Easy for you to say," she quipped, "you're the one with the big gun."

"I thought you totally _smashed_ those guys," he complimented the other pilot. "I'm just glad we can walk away from this without…" As Patrick spoke something in his mind suddenly flashed and he squinted in pain.

"Pats, what is it?" Mari said in concern.

"I…it's…" he struggled to capture the images running in his brain. The boy concentrated hard, trying to sift through the cascade of light and motion that ran through his mind's eye until he thought he could actually see something in front of him.

"EVA-04," Misato's voice now came on through a second video link, "what's wrong?"

Patrick opened his eyes and saw what looked like the inside of a dark fortress. There was little light as he saw his body walk down a narrow corridor, with concrete walls and a steel railing on the side. He could make out the images of others who were walking around him, some looked like soldiers with rifles and helmets while others were technicians or perhaps officers. He could hear different languages around him which seemed like German or Russian or something that sounded vaguely European. Other voices nearby sounded like Chinese or even Japanese. As he moved down the hall he tried to make out the writing on the walls but couldn't. Knowing what it was that he was probably seeing, he concentrated as hard as he possibly could, with only one word on his mind. _Erin… _

Following the image he could hear voices next to him, this time speaking English. Patrick tried as hard as he could to listen in to some man's voice speaking to his twin but heard only a muffled sound, followed by first screaming and by something suddenly shaking him violently inside the entry plug.

"PATS!" Mari screamed again. "LOOK OUT!"

Patrick found himself thrown off the throne and thumped against the entry plug wall as the EVA was thrown against the ground by something that he couldn't see. He struggled to get back onto the throne but again there was a rapid thrust and he was tossed against the entry plug wall a second time.

Mari rushed her own EVA to confront Unit 04's attacker. Standing in front of her was another Evangelion unit, this one painted dark blue with yellow stripes. Wings were mounted on its helmet and there was an overall angular appearance to it.

Out of the Blue EVA's rear came a tail that glowed in luminescent blue. The tail had wrapped itself around EVA-04's left leg and was smashing the unit against the wreckage of buildings in the ruined city. All around them Mari noticed that the air itself seemed blurry.

"Unit 05," Misato called out. "What's happening?"

Mari pointed her lance in front of her and struggled to get closer to the Blue EVA, something she was finding difficult to do. "I think this might be Colonel Kaji's missing EVA," she answered back.

"We don't have anything confirmed on visual but there's a large energy field where you both are."

"It's some sort of reinforced AT field," Mari grunted as she tried to push EVA-05's way through, struggling to push forward through what felt like an invisible wall.

Misato tried to communicate with Patrick. "EVA-04! Unit 04! What's going on? Please answer!"

Forrestal struggled to get back on the control thrown as his EVA was again tossed against the ground. "Something's got a hold of us!" he shouted back. As he climbed back into the throne he could see the glowing tentacle-like tail on the visual monitors. "This guy's grabbed onto me!"

"Use your prog knife to free yourself," Misato ordered. "Mari, can you get through to him?"

Illustrious pushed Unit 05 with all of her will but still found it slow progress against the enemy EVA's mysterious AT field. "It's slow as a moving through a bog!" she called back to Misato.

Standing in the control tent and monitoring the battle from there, Misato studied the situation and tried to work up a tactical solution. This was the first time encountering SEELE's mysterious new EVA and with nothing known about she racked her mind to work out what to do. "Mari," she ordered, "go back and get the N2 cannon! Hurry!"

"Acknowledged," Mari answered and she pulled away from the AT field, racing her EVA to reach Unit 04's original firing position.

Inside of Unit 04's plug Patrick commanded his EVA to deploy its Progressive Knife. Grabbing it from its shoulder mount, he repeatedly stabbed the glowing blue tentacle until it cut loose. He shook his head to clear out his mind as his EVA was thrown back, and as he looked at the monitors he saw the giant blue EVA right in front of him. The glowing tail had pulled behind it and the end was now morphing into something jagged and sharp, and it was being pointed straight at him.

"Got the cannon!" Mari said over the audio. Misato immediately replied "Fire at the enemy unit, point-blank! EVA-04! AT Field at full!"

"Roger," Patrick shouted as he crossed EVA-04's arms in front of him in a defensive stance, pushing her to project the AT field full strength in front of him. He could see the tip of the blue EVA's glowing tail completely form into a needle-like dagger. A second later, the needle shot straight at him. Patrick closed his eyes anticipating the strike, but kept his ground nonetheless.

"Rocket off!" Mari shouted as Unit 04 fired the N2 cannon from a kneeling position. The rocket took a second to reach the enemy AT field. It blasted violently on contact, with a fireball that enveloped everything within sight of her. Mari watched carefully as the black smoke dissipated from the force of the explosion contacting with both of the EVA's AT Fields.

"Unit 05, do you still have visual contact?"

Mari waited another second to report as she tried to peer through the smoke. "I can't see yet," she said. "Come on, Pats! Where are you!" she whispered under her breath.

Silhouettes could be seen as the effects from the newer explosion receded. EVA-04 was face down on the ground, the enemy EVA standing a hundred meters away from it. She saw the EVA turn its head towards her and then something came over the plug audio, something that sounded like laugher.

"Playtime's over for now," a boy's voice said. Mari watched as the enemy EVA suddenly rose into the air, hovering over the ground. A moment later it bounded up into the atmosphere and disappeared into the grey clouds above.

Not waiting to see where the blue Evangelion went, Mari rushed Unit 05 to where Unit 04 was keeled over, surrounded by the wreckage of burnt steel and concrete of the remnants of the city. "Pats! Pats!" she cried out. "Are you okay?" There was silence for a second until she could see the silver-white Unit 04 start to push itself off the ground.

"Lusty," Patrick said to her on audio, "next time I'll roll over so you can roast me evenly." Mari breathed a deep sigh of relief, a smile coming to her face. "I guess you're all right then!"

"I guess so," he said as he still caught his breath. Misato opened up a channel to Unit 04. "EVA-04, report!"

"Yes, Colonel," Patrick reported. "I'm fine, I think anyway." He could see Misato's face on the video screen she had opened up. She was not happy.

"Come back to the command post and report to me immediately," Misato said in a serious tone. She then closed the channel before Patrick should respond. He thought to try to open it up again and argue with her but knew the reason why she was angry. _Time to face the music on this_, he thought to himself as he looked up at where the blue EVA had escaped into the clouds.

* * *

Thirty minutes later both Patrick and Mari stood in the command tent as Misato vented her anger at the boy while Kaji looked on. "What the hell were you doing?" she shouted at Patrick. "You let the enemy get right behind you!"

"I'm sorry, I…" Patrick started to reply but Mari interrupted him. "It's not entirely his fault," she defended. "The enemy EVA didn't show up on any sensors including visual until he was right behind him. To be fair I didn't see him show up until a moment before."

Misato beat the reply back. "That's no excuse," she said, "you can't just expect any enemy to make themselves known to you." She pointed a finger at Patrick. "You were distracted by something just before he hit. What was it?"

"I had an image of Erin," he blurted out.

"You were daydreaming," Misato accused.

"What, no!" Patrick argued back. "It was the EVA! She's got us linked together! At that moment I could see what she was seeing."

The colonel shook her head. "Wait. What?"

"Let me explain. I get these things as dreams, it's almost always at night but somehow there are times that I can see what she sees. This particular time it was really strong, and not while I was sleeping. That's never happened before!"

Misato was still skeptical. "And it came right after killing those two Harpies."

"Yes! Right afterwards there was this really strong vibe and the EVA was channeling the image to me."

"Are you so sure it was the EVA doing this?" Kaji interjected.

"It's has to be," Patrick declared. "I've had these type of visions for months, even before I was a pilot but always when I was asleep. That is, until now. According to Vance, Erin would get the same visions with me so the EVA has to be the link somehow!"

Faced with what Patrick was describing to him Misato took a step back and thought about what he was saying. While no other pilot had ever encountered similar phenomena as the American boy had just described to her she couldn't put it past EVA to do this sort of thing despite how impossible it sounded. She looked up at Kaji who gave her a concerned glance and then moved closer to Patrick. "How detailed are these visions that you get?" he asked the boy.

Patrick thought for a moment. "Usually not very. It's like looking through fog a lot of the time, you can hear voices but not clear enough to make out what's being said. A couple of times it's been really clear, though."

Kaji rubbed his chin as he questioned him further. "Do you see your sister in these images?"

"That's just it," said Patrick as he tried to describe what he saw. "It's like I'm actually her! For that moment I can see through her eyes."

"If I pounded your skull would she feel it as well? Like Corsican Twins?" Mari playfully hit Patrick on the head to his annoyance. He scowled back at her "be serious, would you?"

"I was." Mari replied.

Patrick continued to answer their question. "I don't think so, mostly it's like a playback when I get the nightmares at night. This was the first time it felt live. The other thing is that _this_ time I could really feel what she was feeling."

"Which was?" the agent asked him.

"Fear," Patrick said softly, "and anger."

Kaji turned to Misato, "this is all very intriguing. Patrick? Have you ever mentioned this to anyone before?"

"I've brought it up earlier with Rei and Shinji," he said, "and also General Sheffield. I thought maybe there would be something in the dreams that could help him find my sister." The expression in the boy's eyes began to look more desperate. "Is he any closer to finding her?"

"Unfortunately not," Kaji told him, "at least nothing I'm aware of. Katsuragi, I'd like to discuss this more with Mr. Forrestal a bit later. I'm very interested in what he might have to say." Misato nodded at him. "No problem," she told him. Patrick felt a bit relieved but then Misato gave him another stern look, "I understand what might be going on with you and the EVA," she warned Patrick, "but this is combat and I can't have my pilots not focused on their jobs. You need to find a way to deal with this."

"Understood," Patrick said, "but Colonel?" he said, trying to muscle up some more courage. "Anyway after we get back to NERV I could maybe get some leave?"

"For how long?"

"I don't know," he replied, "but…I gotta find Erin."

Misato softened her expression. "Patrick, what you do with EVA is important. We can't spare you for something like that."

"But she's in danger!" Forrestal protested. "I can't let her be like that when I'm out here…"

Misato walked over and put her hand on Patrick's shoulder. "I can understand it," she said to him. "So let us help."

"If you can provide me with as much detail as possible," Kaji told him, "you have my word that I will find your sister and bring her back to safety."

The boy was encouraged by the support. "Okay, then," he told them. Misato's mood changed and she warmed up to them. "You kids go to the mess and get something to eat," she told him, "and then get some rest. We're not completely done here yet so be ready to go out again when we tell you."

"Yes, ma'am," both Mari and Patrick said and then they hurried out of the tent. Kaji watched them leave and then waited until they and everyone else around them was out of range. "_Very_ interesting," he told Misato.

"Do you believe him?" she asked Kaji.

"I wouldn't underestimate anything EVA does," he replied, "and he certainly seems convinced of what he sees and experiences. If Sheffield's already gotten his story I'm more concerned about why the Alliance has chosen to not reveal this to us directly." Kaji put his hand on Misato's shoulder and she relaxed, leaning into him as he caressed her hair. "If the girl was abducted by our opponents and the boy has a direct link to her, it could give us clues to where they're hiding."


	22. Chapter 21: Connections

**_Tokyo-3_**

After having spent months at the GeoFront, by now both Shinji and Asuka had a very good knowledge of the underground sublevels: which ones were often frequented by NERV personnel busily traveling from place to place in their duties but also where the more quiet areas were. At the moment they had managed to find a hallway that was less traveled by the base staff. With Misato away on deployment, both of the pilots had greater freedom to choose how they wanted to spend their time and at this particular time what they wanted was to spend time with each other. Alone.

Both dressed in the new NERV uniforms, they looked around a corner to see if anyone else was visible. Apart from their escorts, two black-suited security guards that stood close by, no one else was seen walking down the hallway. The guards, they both knew, would just remain as long as the pilots were there and not do anything unless a threat presented itself to any of them. Initially an annoyance, the couple had gotten used to the distant presence of their security escorts and by this point paid them no mind. With no one else the wiser they leaned against the wall, Asuka's arms reaching up around Shinji's neck, and gently kissed each other several times in a row.

"You know," Asuka said to Shinji in a soft voice, "Valentine's Day is coming up."

"I know it," Shinji told her, his arms wrapped around her waist.

"So I was thinking, once the Second-string gets back here we could go out to Hakone." Shinji nodded in agreement. "Okay. Where do you want to go?"

"How about _Ma Maison_?"

"The expensive French place?" Shinji said, suddenly wondering if his allowance would cover what Asuka had in mind.

"Hmm-mm" Auska purred as she toyed with Shinji's hair. "Unless you have something better in mind?"

"Um, no," he said a little nervously, "Should be alright." Shinji made a mental note to check his wallet later and make sure that it would. "You think Misato would let us out of here?"

"Well, if the First got to go out to Hakone on her date it she'd better let us go," she quipped. "Besides," Asuka told him, bringing her face closer to his, "I miss all those times we were in Germany. We didn't have to be stuck in this dungeon then." Shinji nodded and was about to give her another kiss when something moved awkwardly fast towards both of them.

"_Excuse me_! Out of the way!"

The couple turned their heads to see the source of movement when they were both plowed into by someone else and tumbled to the floor. Piled on top of them was Kensuke, who was dressed in a NERV T-shirt, shorts, and runners. Everyone groaned as they picked themselves up off the floor.

"You_ idiot_!" Asuka yelled at Kensuke. "Look where you're going!" The boy didn't reply at first, but panted heavily, his face red with exertion. "Sorry about that," he blurted out.

"What are you doing?" Shinji asked him.

"Getting in shape!" Aida replied, now more calmed down and starting to run in place as he talked to the others. "Got to get in fighting trim, you know!"

"Are you stupid?" the redhead commented. "None of that is going to help you sync better."

Shinji was a bit more helpful. "Kensuke," he told him, "go to Sub-level C. They have a gym there, you can run on the treadmill like the rest of us do."

"That's boring," Kensuke replied. "Besides, I want to see more of the GeoFront and now that I'm a pilot I can run all around this place – all access!" He proudly showed off his ID badge.

"You should go to Terminal Dogma then," said Asuka with a tint of snark in her voice. "You'd _love_ it down there!"

"Really? Cool! I'll go down there next then." Picking up his pace he started running again down the next hallway. "See you later!" He went down the hall and out of sight, and a moment later another security guard, still wearing a black suit, ran after him as the couple looked on.

"That'll get him out the way for a while." Asuka sighed as she shook out her hair. "Geez, they'll let _anyone_ pilot these days!"

Shinji was looking around to see if anyone else was present, hoping to continue his display of affection for Asuka when he saw Rei silently standing there in the hallway looking at the two of them. There was no way of telling how long she had been there. Rei was wearing a test plug suit of blue and white coloration, the mesh fabric of which allowed for Shinji to see a very ample amount of Rei's midsection.

"Uh, Ayanami!" said Shinji, clearly startled.

Asuka was annoyed with both the interruption and with what Rei was wearing in front of them. "Why does she want to just stand there half-naked looking at us?"

Rei just ignored her carping. "Ikari-kun, after the activation test can I ask you to help me with something?"

Not knowing if Asuka had any further plans for later, Shinji looked at her first with a _what should I do?_ expression on his face. The redhead's response to him was rather predictable.

"Don't look at me!" She told him angrily. "If you want to go help some girl showing you all that, go right ahead!" Shinji started to protest but Asuka was clearly miffed at him, and turned around and walked away down the hallway, shooting a narrow glance at Rei as she passed by her. Realizing his _faux pas_ with Asuka too late Shinji slumped his shoulders in defeat.

Rei watched Asuka unemotionally until she was out of their sight, and then put her focus back on Shinji. "Is it a problem?" she asked him.

"No, I got it," he said with a sigh. "What do you need?"

"Something I want to do for Forrestal-kun when he returns."

"I'll help if I can. When will you finish the activation test?"

"If successful it will take approximately six hours. After that should be alright."

Shinji noticed Rei's very calm demeanor. "Are you scared about the test?"

"Functionally it should be no different than syncing with any other Evangelion unit," Rei replied.

"But you remember what happened with Unit 00," he reminded her.

"That circumstance was different. There was a conflict of identities at first. That is not the case here."

"But these things tried to kill us just a couple of months ago," he warned, clearly worried about her. Rei thought to reply again with facts but she realized that Shinji's protests were not illogical. She needed to remind herself that his emotions were a normal response of concern.

"I will be okay," she reassured him, her voice tone warming up just a little.

"Just be careful," Shinji replied. Without thinking he reached for her hand and held it, squeezing it a little as he looked at her, hoping that she was indeed as correct as her confidence indicated. Rei said nothing, but looked up at him with a small smile and gently squeezed his hand back.

* * *

Provisional Evangelion Unit Seven was once known as EVA-12, and was originally built as one of the Mass Production Series of EVAs that were used by SEELE to try to initiate Third Impact in Tokyo-3 six weeks before. After the defeat of the Harpies in the battle of Tokyo-3 the Alliance recovered seven of the Mass Production Series in various states of destruction, and on the orders of Scientific Director Viraat place them in a deep cold storage unit until he could engineer a plan to recover as many of the parts from the enemy EVAs to both repair existing NERV units and also deploy new ones if the chance permitted.

One unit, the former EVA-09, was mostly intact after the battle except for its destroyed dummy plug and Viraat gave that unit as priority. Still having the active core of Mari's Unit 05 remaining from her destroyed EVA, Viraat repaired the damage on the Harpy and inserted the core of Mari's unit. Fortunately the combination worked immediately despite the EVA not having a functional set of arms, and during the rest of January Viraat supervised repairs to give the new EVA-05 complete operability.

Pieces of five other units were currently being painstakingly stitched together to provide two other operational EVAs: Unit 08, which was nearly complete and would be assigned to Kensuke Aida, and the new Unit 09, which was still several weeks from operability.

Dr. Foch had asked Viraat if he could use one of the recovered EVAs, and Viraat designated the old EVA-12 for Foch's research. '12 was chosen as its damaged abdomen was unable to take in a new core and would be useless for Viraat's recovery efforts except as spare parts, even though it too was fairly intact. Foch however believed that he could get the unit to activate _without_ a core– but only if the First Child was the pilot.

Now designated "provisional", the EVA, now designated as the new Unit 07, stood inside the Unit Major Initiation Complex. A giant white tiled room that was over ninety meters in height, this was a large room within the GeoFront that was designed and used by NERV to conduct initial activation tests with the Evangelion units. It was the same room that Unit 00's initial activation had been conducted some months before and where Rei had been badly injured as a result.

Dr. Foch stood in the control center, a large glass-walled room that overlooked the Major Initiation Complex and ran through several sets of data that he had called up on a computer system he stood in front of. Also present in the room were scientific director Dr. Viraat, Foch's assistant Beatrix, and the newly promoted Captain Maya ibiki.

The diminutive Dr. Viraat walked over to where Foch was standing, his hands behind his back. "Well, Bernard, you've got your toy working now, have you?"

"We will see in a few moments, my dear Raj," Foch replied without looking up from his display.

"My development staff says you're crazy to consider trying to sync a pilot to the EVA without a core."

"Well," Foch said with a chuckle, "what's the point of being a scientist if at times you can't be a bit _mad!_"

Viraat scoffed a bit at the French scientist's hubris. "They also said that if you try to contact the Mass Production with the First Child there's a 47.5% chance she'll initiate Third Impact instead."

"Then aren't you the optimist that you're standing here now?" Foch told him, a skeptical look on his face.

"I'm just here to monitor your test, Bernard," Viraat parried back. "But if you don't succeed I've got dibs on this EVA's parts."

The unsaid meaning of Viraat's statement was of course that Foch would have only one chance to activate Provisional Unit 07, otherwise the director would scavenge it to play Doctor Frankenstein with the other EVA units. Foch looked down at the director. "One way or another Raj, I assure you that after today you won't be disappointed." He then walked to Maya's computer station.

"Doctor," Maya reported, "all systems are at green. Do you still want to keep the S2 off line?"

"Yes," confirmed Foch. "Using power from the umbilical should be sufficient for an activation test. Besides, let's not push the envelope too hard." He then looked over at Beatrix, who would be monitoring Rei's physiological and psychological responses during the test. "Pilot status indicates as nominal," she said.

Nodding with approval, Foch walked over to his own computer station and pressed a button. "Mademoiselle Ayanami," he said to Rei over the speaker, "are you ready?"

"Yes, doctor," her voice came back in a flat tone.

"Very well. We shall commence with the activation test." Foch gave a hand signal to Maya and she initiated plug entry into the EVA. Walking over to her station while he watched Rei's entry plug being moved into position, Foch whispered to Maya "remember, if things get a bit bumpy during the test, don't eject the plug or start Bakelite injections until I give the order."

"I understand," Maya replied, "but the First Child has had some prior experiences doing this that didn't go well for her. If there's anything that might endanger her, I'd rather…"

"I know your concern, Captain, but I've discussed this at length with Pilot Ayanami and I have every confidence in her capabilities. Now let's get started."

The control center had a view of the entire complex space and the scientists and staff could see Provisional Unit 07 as the entry plug was twisted into place, inserted as all Evangelion entry plugs were through its upper spine. The rebuilt unit was no longer its original white color, but had received a new skin that was patterned blue and yellow. It now wore a helmet that had a single large round sensor in front, not unlike Unit 00's original helmet, but the oversize jaw and mouth of the original mass production was still visible and protruded from the lower helmet.

"Entry plug inserted," Maya reported, "initiating startup sequence." For a few minutes the EVA was run carefully through a series of power-ups to each of its internal systems. The process was similar to the regular EVA unit startup but much slower, as this was a test initiation and there was greater need to be cautious during the experiment.

Maya carefully monitored the test from her work station, watching the EVA through the glass windows. "Breakers 1 through 1064 are complete. All systems nominal."

"Feedback from the EVA?" Foch asked her.

"Neutral. There's no response either way."

The scientist turned to Beatrix. "Pilot Status."

The blonde assistant looked up from her station. "Unchanged. Nominal and steady."

Foch looked up at the master display and saw a multitude of green lights around the diagram of the EVA. _So far, so good_. "Go with sync," he commanded. Maya touched a button on her dynamic control pad and the remaining breakers were activated between entry plug and the Evangelion itself, allowing the plug's contact system to interface with the EVA. It was usually at this stage that the EVA would react at the intrusion. She held her breath while she watched her own display, as the alpha waves of the pilot's brain would begin to align with those of the EVA.

"Sync going into alignment," Maya continued to report as the group viewed the large holographic monitor above the windows. She saw a light flash on her dynamic display and as she quickly keyed the display another series of warnings begin to flash. Maya was about to report this to Dr. Foch but then the giant EVA began to move in front of them. Thrashing its arms to break its bindings, the EVA grabbed its head and screamed out in pain.

"What's wrong?" Foch demanded.

"There's negative feedback from the EVA," Maya said. "It's resisting the sync."

Out of the control center's windows, they could see the blue EVA start to shake off its holdings. Grabbing its head like it was trying to twist it off, it shook the rigging that held it in place violently.

Foch looked at Beatrix. "Pilot status?"

"Physically exerted but still stable. Alpha brain wave activity has jumped up 1500%," she reported.

"Doctor!" Maya shouted, "The EVA is coming loose!" A series of loud metal snaps was heard as the captured Harpy was now pulling out of the rigging that held it in place. Maya hovered her finger over the TERMINATE function on her control pad, looking at Dr. Foch for a command. Foch saw her and then hit the microphone button.

"Pilot Ayanami," he asked Rei, "do you wish to continue?"

There was a long moment of silence but over the audio channel , as heavy breathing and grunts could be heard. It was clear to everyone in the room that Rei was also struggling with the sync.

"Miss Ayanami! Please reply!"

"Please continue the test," she replied quickly.

The scientist looked at Maya, who had worry written all over her face. "Give her a chance to do it," he commanded, "stop this _only_ when I tell you." Maya nodded and concentrated on her display.

Bernard Foch looked out the windows as the captured EVA worked to break free of the rigging, screaming with its deep voice, he said nothing further but quietly swallowed his own fear of what he was seeing and what he knew could go horribly wrong if they failed. _I hope you know what you're doing, Madamoiselle._

As she linked with the Evangelion, Rei found herself swimming in what appeared as a tunnel of glowing blue and white water. She silently swam through twists and turns until reaching a large bubble-like chamber.

Rising naked out of the water, Rei looked around the chamber and saw herself inside of a globe. The water had turned from blue to red, and the rounded ceiling was orange-red with hexagonal patters all around, some of which were darker than others. There were twisted shapes built in plaster that appeared out of the red water.

From her own unique set of feelings and experiences, Rei knew that even without an embedded soul an Evangelion still had a brain. That brain still contained a mind, which contained will and emotion of its own. To make the link with this EVA, she would have to reach its mind and turn it to sync with her directly. It was not the first time she had ever done so.

Inside the containment chamber, Provisional Unit 07 had shaken off it's metal bindings and was now pounding on the walls of the giant room. Shaking its head violently, it sideswiped the command platform, breaking the large glass windows. The scientists and staff that were standing there dove for cover as the glass panels shattered all around them.

Still standing as the EVA trashed about, Beatrix quickly grabbed her senior and pulled him behind her control console. Maya, who had been through messy EVA activations before, had already moved behind the master control station, holding an LCD table that still allowed her command functions.

"Doctor Foch!" Maya called out. "It's broken loose! We need to contain the EVA or else it could damage the entry plug and the chamber!" She held her finger over the BAKELITE function on her control pad.

Foch looked at Beatrix's own LCD tablet display. "How is she doing?" he asked about Rei.

"Total brain activity has gone up above nominal limits," his assistant reported, "Alpha waves are rising to 2000% above level, but look at this!" she showed the scientist the readings on her tablet. "Her wave patterns are…I've never seen this before! It's like there's three distinct brain waves all going on at the same time."

"It's her true nature," said Foch. "She's working the problem." He shouted over to Maya. "Captain Ibiki! Give her two minutes! If she can't sync in that time release bakelite and soft-eject the plug. No rapid ejections!"

"Understood!" Maya shouted back as she ducked to avoid another piece of flying glass.

Standing at the edge of the red water was something that looked half-human and half monster. The human half looked like a teenage boy, with a bare chest and arms, but his back and legs were covered with milky-white growth, and half of his face was hidden by the same strange material. He had red eyes , silver hair, and a slender, almost lanky look to him. As Rei faced him he pulled his arms around his chest and head, writhing like something was affecting his skin.

"Who are you?" the beast shouted as he saw Rei standing close to him.

"One who would connect with you," she answered plainly.

"You are Lillim!" he said to her. "How are you able to do this?"

"There is a part of me that was once as you are," Rei replied. The beast turned to his right and saw Rei again, only this time Rei was a little girl and like the larger Rei she was also naked. The girl looked up at him.

"You and I are the EVA," she said.

"How can you be Lillim _and_ EVA?" he asked her. "That is impossible!"

"No, it's not," the little Rei said. "It has already been done."

The beast heard another voice and turned around behind him. Standing there was another copy of Rei, this one looking identical to the first one.

"You feel lonely and without connection," she said to him. "You are made for a purpose but do not know your own direction."

His eyes opened wider in shock as he was surrounded by the Reis. The beast grabbed his head and tried to force himself to think, but he was confused and his face brought an expression of fear and panic. "This is not what is supposed to be! I need the _other_! I need the _other _one inside me!"

Rei was about to answer him when in front of both of them stood another. The soul of Adam, in the body of Kaworu, spoke to the EVA.

"I am the one you seek," he declared.

The EVA-boy looked at Adam in surprise. "You are...like the other but not the same as the other."

"The one you refer of is what the Lillim called the Dummy Plug," Adam explained. "It was a copy of me, but it is not me. The one you truly seek is me."

The boy inside the EVA calmed himself down after hearing this although there was still reluctance and confusion in his voice. "I do not understand what is happening. Why are the Lillim inside of me now?"

"You were made for a purpose but one that could not be accomplished," Adam said to him.

At this point Rei, the first one, stepped forward towards the half-boy. "We see to connect to you in order to provide a new purpose. One that can bring peace and unity between Humans and Angels."

"What will you do?" he asked Rei, a touch of fear in his voice.

"Inside you is an emptiness, one that you cannot fill on your own. I can help you fill that void."

"You know of this?"

"I know it because I myself felt it," Rei said to him. "Once I was as you were. By uniting with the Angel inside of me I filled my void. With this knowledge I can also help fill the void inside of you as well."

"And what will happen to me if you do this?"

Adam/Kaworu stepped up to the beast. "You will serve a better purpose then that which you were made for," he said with a slight smile. "You will have knowing of your true existence, and not be alone." He looked at Rei and she nodded.

"In some way you will be as the Lillim are, but most importantly you will be complete," Adam concluded.

Rei stepped closer to the EVA-boy. Without saying anything further, she reached out her hand to him. Looking like a scared animal, the boy flinched for a moment but then looked at her eyes. She softened her expression a little, gently and patiently waiting for him to decide.

With great hesitation the beast slowly reached out and touched Rei's open hand. She then gently squeezed it, reassuring him that things would be alright. The boy didn't smile but firmly grasped her hand and let out a sigh of relief.

With the observation windows completely blown out, Foch, Maya, Beatrix, and Viraat crouched behind workstations and the bulkheads of the control room as the EVA continued to thrash around the chamber. Maya gripped her LCD tablet tight, watching the clock as it ran down a countdown to the two minutes that Foch had asked for, her finger still hovering over the BAKELITE RELEASE button.

There was a sudden silence and Maya cautiously looked over her workstation to see what was happening inside the test chamber. Out of the broken windows she saw the blue and yellow Evangelion now standing upright and not moving at all.

"Control to pilot!" Maya quickly shouted into the microphone. "Is everything alright?" There was a moment of silence that made Maya's heart skip a beat. She tried again. "Control to pilot! Ayanami-chan, are you okay?"

Rei's voice came back on the speakers. "I'm fine," she said calmly.

Beatrix gently helped pull Dr. Foch off the floor, and he straightened up and then moved to his own display. The old scientist glanced at the readouts on the new Evangelion, coolly looking to Maya as if the thrashing of the captured EVA had not even happened. "Captain Ibiki," he asked her, "can you give me the sync rate of EVA-07?"

Maya looked at her master display. "All status are normal, apart from slight damage to the EVA itself," she reported. She continued to carefully scan the readout and then her eyebrows went wide with what she saw. Gasping with relieved joy, she told Foch "She's done it! Sync rate is 85% and steady!"

On the only remaining undamaged video monitor on the control room ceiling Rei's visual image suddenly appeared. She was sitting on the Throne in the EVA's plug, looking as stoic as usual. Looking at the others, she stated flatly "Evangelion Unit 07 is activated and ready." Upon hearing that everyone in the control room breathed a deep sigh of relief as Maya went about working on her console, activating remote arms to contact the EVA inside the chamber and re-attach cables that were disconnected during the activation.

Viraat walked over to Foch as he examined the incoming stream of data from the new EVA. "Well, Bernard, you've given birth to another one," he said.

"Sorry to deprive you of your additional spare parts," Foch replied without looking at the other scientist.

"No matter. We'll just have to delay Unit 09 a bit to get everything else in the field and ready," Viraat said. "Have fun with your new toy." With that Viraat left the room from the back.

Foch stood back from the display and walked over to the broken windows, studying the newly activated EVA out the opening from the glass. His initial feeling was to take pride in his new accomplishment but deep inside he knew better. Today had been a success, but not because of himself.

_Just _who_ are you, Mademoiselle Ayanami? And what gives you such power as to rule angels and gods?_

* * *

**"**Okay, now pour it on like this," Shinji said to Rei as he helped her gently pour a sauce on top of a fish that she had just baked. They were both standing in the kitchen of the boys' suite with green aprons over their uniforms, as Shinji went step-by-step with Rei on what they were cooking.

"Not too much," he said as she carefully turned the skilled over and let the light sauce drip over the baked mackerel that had finished cooking a moment before. Shinji stood just behind her, also with his hands on the skillet handle to help her.

After finishing with the sauce they put the skilled down and Shinji took a bit of fish with chopsticks, tasking it. "Not bad," he commented. "I probably put too much soy sauce, it's a bit salty."

He motioned to Rei. "Do you want to try it?" She shook her head.

"Why not?"

"I do not eat this myself," she told him softly. Rather than argue with her, Shinji just nodded in agreement and then looked over the rest of their work. After her activation test with the new Unit 07, Rei has asked him if he could teach her more about how to cook. Managing to find time later in the afternoon when Asuka was preoccupied training with Hikari, he had invited her to come to his suite and together they planned a simple meal that she would learn to cook on her own. It was mostly basic Japanese staples including rice, steamed and pickled vegetables, seaweed, and tofu, but Rei also wanted to learn to cook something that Patrick would want to eat and they had settled on fish.

"I know you didn't eat meat," Shinji said, "but I thought you might be okay with this."

"The smell is less disturbing than meat," Rei told him as she carefully put the fish on the kitchen serving table, "but I still can't bring myself to eat it."

Shinji spoke with his mouth half-full of mackerel. "I'm sure he'll like it. Asuka says Americans can't really eat just tofu and vegetables, they need to have something cooked as well."

"That's true," said Rei. "Although I know he tries to accommodate my taste, it's better if I can give him something he would prefer." She stood over the dining table and carefully arranged the dishes that they had prepared over the last two hours. This was just a practice run: tomorrow evening would be the night she did it on her own.

"Ayanami?"  
"Yes?"  
"Is everything okay with you and Patrick?"  
"Yes, it is."  
Shinji looked at her with more concern. "Are you sure?"  
Rei was surprised at the question. "Why would it not be?"  
"Well," he nervously tried to explain, "it's just that you're not a really social person and now suddenly you're spending a lot of time with Forrestal-kun. I just wondered if maybe you didn't feel uncomfortable with not being by yourself more." Shinji felt awkward at how the question had come out, and hoped she wasn't hurt by it.

She didn't reply right away and was still arranging the dishes on the table. Shinji just looked after her, with a look of worry on his face. Rei noticed it and then she spoke.

"At first," she started, "I thought that would be true. As I spent more time with him I noticed that I didn't miss being by myself that much at all. Now that he has been gone for a few days it feels...lonely without him."

Shinji tried to go a little farther. "How do you really feel about him?"

"I like him," she said. "I like him very much."

"Did you know what it would be like? I mean, _dating_ someone?"

Rei was thoughtful. "I tried reading on the subject but there was no one pattern that was followed, everyone's perspective was different. Eventually I just gave up trying to analyze the connection between Forrestal-kun and myself. It was much better after I did that." Shinji nodded, and found that he felt a bit relieved: he hadn't expected to hear Rei express herself so affirmatively.

"There was one thing that was very helpful, however," she told him.  
"What was that?"  
"Watching you."  
"Really?" he answered.  
"I have observed you and the Second Child for several months now," Rei explained, now standing in front of Shinji as she did so. "I watched how your relationship has progressed in that time. It was very useful, as I could determine better how I could react to Forrestal-kun."  
"I don't really know if we're the best example," Shinji pondered.  
"You're very suitable for each other," Rei told him, looking at him directly. "May I ask you a question?"  
"Uh, sure!"  
"What part of being with the Second do you like the most?" It was a direct question, but he knew from her expression that it was an honest one.

_I probably shouldn't talk about the making out part_, he thought. "Actually, it's just being with her," he answered. "She's a lot of fun. We do lots of things together, play games a lot, things like that." Shinji was a little embarrassed to answer the question. "What do you like most about Forrestal-kun."

"He is _very_ interesting," she replied. "For someone who did not go to school he is very well educated. It's very easy to talk to him."  
"Is that all?"  
Rei looked at Shinji and a small smile crossed her lips. "It feels good inside when he holds me."

Shinji smiled along with her. "Then I'm really happy for you," he said. "But, Ayanami, please be careful. Relationships are difficult sometimes, even when you mean well. I just don't want you to get hurt." She nodded in understanding. "Thank you," she said to him.  
The boy held his head in embarrassment. "It's nothing, really!"


	23. Chapter 22: V-Day

Kaji flew Misato back to the Geofront the following morning, their Thunderbolt landing on a concrete pad after flying inside the giant open cavity that marred the top of the underground structure. With EVA Units 04 and 05 arriving on transport aircraft later that day, Misato wanted to return to NERV as early as possible.

The Alliance's mission within southern China had been a success: when UN (and by extension SEELE) controlled units attempted to challenge General Lin's army in the field, the presence of both Alliance forces and especially two Evangelions had made the difference, and soon Lin found himself holder of a half of China itself. This was a major gain for the Alliance, and after the battle with the SEELE EVAs at LangWha the EVAs had not needed to fire a single shot against their opponents, such was the sense of fear driven by them into the UN-controlled forces. Many had surrendered just at the sight of them.

Despite this, Misato was not at all happy with the way that things had gone and had again discussed the matter with Kaji while they were in the field. The Alliance knew exactly when and where the attack by SEELE would take place, and while they could take advantage of this in battle it left her with just too many worrying, unanswered questions. She had been through the pantomime of certain intelligence about their opponents before during the Angel war, just to find out in the end that the game was rigged. Misato wasn't about to be someone's puppet this time around.

Admiral Vinson sat at his desk in his new command office as Misato burst through the doors, Kaji following her. He was going through a series of reports being presented by other officers when she marched in. Vinson saw her glare and the expressed temper of her entry and had a good idea why she was there.

"Admiral," Misato said to the commander, "May I please have a word?" Vinson motioned to the junior officers to leave the room, while pressing a button on his desk. "Johnnie, come in here," he said simply, and then leaned back in his chair while calmly taking a swig of his coffee from a cup with old US Navy markings on it.

Misato waited until the younger officers left and the door closed. "I'm all yours, Colonel," Vinson told her.

She started on him immediately. "How the _hell_ did the Alliance know about that attack?"

"We have a source," Vinson said, "a rather good one."

Misato glanced at Kaji, who stood back and let her do the talking for now. "A bit too good. They fell right for the trap we set."

Vinson was direct and eerily calm. "And you succeeded quite well, all things considering. Get to the point, Colonel."

"The point is..." Misato was interrupted as General Sheffield entered the room, carrying a LCD tablet under his arm. She quickly went back to the discussion, "...the point is that if you have an insider in SEELE that you also know _where_ their base is, and if you know that why haven't you shared that with _us_?"

The commander crossed his arms, as the broadside had come exactly as he suspected it would. "Because, colonel, we _don't_ know their base location."

"Bullshit!" Misato called out.

Sheffield then entered the argument. "It's true, I'm afraid," he said to the Japanese.

Misato was incredulous with the Alliance's stonewalling but now Kaji stepped forward and took a second approach. "The attack information in South China was quite specific," he told the commanders, "it would be helpful if we knew more about the source of information where this is coming from."

Sir John looked at Vinson for guidance and the Admiral nodded quietly. "Colonel Kaji," Sheffield then started, "are you familiar in your experience with a former CIA agent known as 'Omega'?"

"Omega?" Kaji said in recognition. "He's legendary! Said to be the best penetration agent they ever had. However Omega was only an operative in the late 20th Century, he was thought to have died after Second Impact."

Vinson leaned back in his chair again. "It goes without saying that what you're going to hear next is not going to leave this room." Misato and Kaji looked at each other again, both of them knowing they were about to get a lot more than they had expected.

Sheffield paced around the commander's office as he related the tale. "Omega was indeed a highly skilled covert operative, used by the CIA and others to penetrate highly secure organizations such as the Soviet KGB, the Hussein regime in Iraq, and even the North Koreans," he started. "While his actual identity was unknown, we knew of him from our experiences in the Persian Gulf when we were both junior officers. Omega was highly regarded, quite efficient, and had a knack for finding hard to get intelligence."

"Sounds like a good asset to have," Misato quipped.

The general continued. "Sometime in the late 1990s Omega had gone on his own, leaving the CIA. He kept in contact with a handful of us in the special operations community, such as the British SAS or the Americans SEALS, on the condition that we would not pass along what he found to our civilian authorities. He had apparently discovered something quite volatile, and warned us that revealing that to our own national agencies could get us, and himself, killed."

"What was it that he found?" asked Kaji, who already suspected the answer.

"The existence of a secret organization that was manipulating the United Nations and nearly every major government in support of a secret scientific project at the South Pole. The group that we now know as SEELE."

_Second Impact_. Misato took a deep breath, as Kaji mulled over what was being told. "How much did he reveal?" he asked.

"Not enough to prevent it," replied Sheffield, "but enough to prepare us for what would happen next."

"We were _very_ skeptical when we first heard stories about secret societies and digging up gods and ancient artifacts," Vinson told them. "We all thought that Omega had been out in the field a few too many times. But the level of detail that he was providing was considerable, and then things started to unfold exactly the way he said they would. It was based on the information he provided that we started to form in secret what became the Alliance in the time after Second Impact."

Kaji was very intrigued by what he was hearing as Misato tried to take it all in, still feeling very skeptical herself. "Was he trying to stop what was going on in Antartica?" Kaji asked.

"We're quite honestly not sure," said Sir John. "What we do know is that after Second Impact we stopped hearing from Omega. That is, until last month." Sheffield paused for a while as he found tea in the back of Vinson's office and poured himself a cup while everyone else was quiet. "We started receiving messages from him on Hyper-high frequency channels. "

"Again," Sheffield told the others, "we were cautious, believing this might be some sort of hoax or false intel from SEELE itself. But he provided a validation code that only a very few of us knew, and then he provided targeting data on SEELE positions, and then lastly this attack."

"So he's inside SEELE itself, then" Kaji concluded. The other officers nodded affirmatively.

Misato walked over to Sheffield and leaned directly into the man's face. "They why hasn't he given you the location of their base?!"

Sheffield didn't bat an eye at Misato's aggressive stance towards him. "He hasn't felt the need to tell us yet, I'm afraid."

"Oh, come on!" she shouted as Kaji pulled her away from the general. "All it takes is one shot and we go in there and…"

"We're as frustrated as you are, _colonel!_" Vinson interjected as he stood up from his desk. "Those messages we get only go one way. He tells us what he feels he can."

"Or what he _wants_ to!" Misato said, still fuming. "It's clear he's manipulating events! He supposedly tells you about Second Impact but yet not enough to stop it in the first place! Now this!"

Sir John addressed Misato, now showing only the slightest bit of temper as he raised his voice. "Colonel Katsuragi," he said to her, "I have myself send twenty agents into SEELE in attempts to get information out. I never heard from any one of them again. The only other man I know of who's ever been successful is the one standing here." He motioned to Kaji. "Quite frankly I'm thankful for whatever we can get!"

The admiral walked in front of both Kaji and Misato. "We have no choice in the matter," he said to them both, "we just have to ride this out and take as much advantage as we can, without jeopardizing the source."

Misato thought to argue but had enough sense to stop and think. "Well," she asked Kaji, "what do you think?"

Kaji pursed his lips as he analyzed everything carefully. "SEELE is both skillful and paranoid, and they're extremely good at rooting out unwanted guests," he said from his own personal experience. "While it's possible that we're being baited with good information, the one-way messages implies that the source is being very cautious about being intercepted." He looked at Misato, a hopeful expression on his face. "I think for now we can try and ride this out as the Admiral suggested, and hope he gives us what we need in the long run. If Omega's as good as his reputation suggests, I suspect that he may be setting up conditions later that we can take advantage of."

While she was still not completely convinced, Misato didn't want to discount any advantage she could give her pilots. She glared at Vinson. "When this Omega sends so much as a peep, I want to be the first to know. No exceptions, and none of this 'Need to Know' crap," she told him. "My kids are the ones taking the biggest risk: I'm not about to jeopardize any one of them because of some sort of spy game."

Vinson took a deep sigh and nodded in agreement. "Affirmed," he said. The room was again silent for a while until Kaji spoke up. "Now another issue: the Forrestals."

"What about them?" the Admiral asked.

"Have you ever found out about what happened to the girl?"

The admiral didn't speak right away, but again deferred to Sheffield. "No good news on that front," Sir John said. "We've investigated several possible locations but to no avail. It seems her father had her hidden quite well."

Kaji again spoke up. "Patrick says he can link to his twin through the EVA, and that he has images of what she sees."

"Ah, yes," Sheffield remarked. "I heard about that at length. I'm afraid I'm quite skeptical. His visions are mixed in with all sorts of images of relatives and enemies, and other dark anxieties that it's difficult to determine if he's actually seeing anything or if his adolescent brain is just working on overdrive. In several sessions I've been unable to get him to be specific on anything that he experiences. Considering that none of the other EVA pilots have ever reported having such an experience I'm highly doubtful this is anything more than just piloting anxiety. Again, Colonel," Sir John looked at Misato, "you're the expert on the EVA pilots and their behavior, but you know that considering their age and emotional states they're more likely acting out, yes?"

"Either could be true," she told the general, "I wouldn't discount anything EVA does. Then again he may just be projecting hope that his sister is alright. It was strong enough to distract him during combat, however."

"Then we'll leave it to you to decide how to handle, but for now keep the information about the sister quiet until we determine an absolute confirmation of where she is," Vinson ordered. "The less distractions the pilots have the better. The rougher part of this is coming up, and I want them to all be ready." Both Japanese officers were resigned at the admonition. "Yes, sir," they both said.

* * *

Now back home at the GeoFront, Mari walked inside the girls' suite and at once went to the kitchen. Standing there were Hikari, Toji, and Kensuke, who was looking on as Hikari was feeding Toji heart-shaped chocolates that she had hand-crafted herself earlier. Toji wore his track suit, Kensuke his NERV uniform, and Hikari was wearing a yellow jumper dress with a striped sweater and new sheer stockings on her legs.

Hikari noticed Mari first as she entered the kitchen. "Oh! Hi Mari-chan!" The two boys turned their heads to see her and each did a double-take as they got first sight of Mari.

Standing in the kitchen doorway, Mari Illustrious was wearing a lavender-colored Chinese _QiPao_. The dress was elaborately embroidered with silk flowers and patterns, and while the hemline went down to her knees the dress was slit very high on her right, making nearly all of her leg visible. Mari still wore her red-framed glasses but instead of twin-tails her hair was put up in braids, with a decorative Chinese-style comb to hold it in. She wore simple lavender-colored flats to top it all off, and was holding a large gift bag in her hands.

"Wow! You look great!" Hikari exclaimed. "Where did you get that dress?"

"The Chinese general we were fighting with gave these to us as a sort of reward," she said with a smile as she did a curtsey to show off her dress. "I think it's darling myself, I've always wanted one!"

Mari saw the looks on the faces of the two boys, still in stunned silence, their eyes focused on her. "Well, I haven't forgotten its Valentine's Day today," she told them as she reached into her bag. "Here you go, mate!" She handed a gold-wrapped box to Kensuke, who gladly took it with both hands, shaking with excitement. Without letting Kensuke say anything in response, Mari quickly turned to Toji. "And here you go as well," she told him, handing him a box identical to Kensuke's. Toji quickly examined the box and saw from the outside that it was composed of chocolates, as in Japan the custom was for girls to give boys chocolate as the gift for Valentine's Day. Toji also saw that the box was probably bought in a gift shop, judging from the label that was underneath.

Mari then pulled out a third box from the gift bag, this was larger than the other two with gold and silver wrapping and an elaborate bow on top. "And…where is Shinji?"

"You just missed them," Hikari explained. "Now that you guys are back, Misato let him and Asuka go on a date tonight in old Hakone."

"Well, let's not let Puppy-kun miss out on the fun, shall we?" Mari reached into her small purse and pulled out her mobile phone. Tossing it to Hikari, she asked her with a broadened smile. "Would you mind taking some pictures then?"

As Hikari took photos of Mari in various poses, Toji excused himself from the kitchen, telling Hikari that would be back later to "shoot some hoops" with her. When Mari asked her what that meant, Hikari said nothing but just blushed brightly. Toji left the room, noticing on his way out that Kensuke had already left.

_I'm totally cool with Hikari on V-Day but just can't stand girls stuff like that_, he thought to himself, thankful that Hikari was patient enough to let him go out for a bit. As he stepped outside the girls' suite he saw Kensuke leaning against the wall, looking at the unopened box of chocolates Mari had just given him with tears in his eyes.

"What's up with you?" he asked him.

Kensuke tried to smile through his broken heart. "It's just _obligation_ chocolate!"

"Bah!" Toji said as he playfully punched Kensuke in the arm. "There's no respect for rookie pilots, you know that!"

* * *

Both Kaji and Misato sat on the steel floor in Kaji's "safe room," hidden away from the eyes and ears of the others and allowing them a bit of privacy. Kaji had changed out of his uniform and into a simple set of slacks and a blue dress shirt, while Misato wore a _QiPao_ of the same pattern as Mari's but emerald green in color. Misato then knelt on the floor and presented Kaji an open box of chocolates that looked hand-dipped.

Kaji immediately took one of the chocolates out of the box and popped it in his mouth. Chewing it for a moment, he analyzed the taste. "Hmmm. Grand Mariner Cognac!" he told her. "You've outdone yourself this year!"

"Not bad for twenty minutes work," she said, trying one herself. "I had to rush these right after we got back from the Admiral's office."

They each took another piece of the messy globs from the box and ate it while leaning back against the bulkhead. "Remember that time you and Ritsu-chan tried to make your own hand-dipped chocolates in college?"

Misato laughed as the memory came up. "Oh, yes! We went and melted all of that chocolate and then we were so busy drinking the brandy we had forgotten to save any for the chocolates!"

"Things you gave me tasted fowl!" Kaji told her. "What did you end up using?"

"Well," Misato giggled, "first I used beer…"

"Oh, no!"

"…and then we didn't have much of that left so we used, what was it?" her mind struggled to think of what it was. "Oh, yes! Now I remember! It was rice cooking wine!"

"Shit! No kidding!?"

"That's all we had left!" she exclaimed with a giggle. "I know you were disappointed with that."

Kaji nudged her. "You made it up to me later, as I remember."

Misato nodded knowingly. "That I did," she said. They both smiled at each other for a bit as old memories crossed their minds. The little room became quiet.

"I don't care what she did," Misato told Kaji, her tone of voice changing from playful to sullen. "I still miss her."

Kaji took a swig of whiskey from a flask that he had. "I do as well," he said, handing over the flask to Misato who then took a long drink. "It's difficult being here and not having memories come up of her. I imagine Ibuki-chan has the hardest time."

"I'm sure, she adored Ritsu," Misato agreed. "Now she has to find some way to help take her place." Misato leaned against Kaji, looking up at him with warm eyes. "I hope you didn't mind my fireworks show in the commander's office," she told him. "I know you wanted to lay low on that but after having our ambush get messed up I was just so angry."

"It's understandable," he told her, kissing her once. "And you're cute when you're angry."

"But seriously, you think that they're hiding something?"

"Yes," Kaji said, "I don't expect them to ever fully trust us. The question is really, are they playing the same game as we are? Is there goal the elimination of SEELE? Or do they see EVA as a means to another end. With five units now operational and a sixth nearly done, that's a frightening concept to a lot of people."

* * *

At _Ma Maison_ and dressed in suit and tie, Shinji sat at the table across from Asuka while he looked around the restaurant. It was easily one of the most fancy places he had ever seen, with antiques and artwork decorating the walls and expensive furnishings that made it clear that the restaurant's owners wanted as much of a European ambiance as they could afford. From both the décor on the walls and the prices on the menu, it was clear to Shinji that they could afford quite a lot.

Asuka cheerfully hummed to herself while she looked at the menu. While Shinji always thought she was pretty good at her wardrobe choices, her outfit tonight was very eye-catching. She wore a sleeveless dress in black lace, the hem generously stopping at mid-thigh. Her hair was worn long and loose over her shoulders with her A10s on top, and she wore black polished ballet flats with her long, lovely bare legs. Around her neck was the monkey pendant that Shinji had given to her just before they left. She looked as delicious as the food, Shinji thought, and he silently told himself it was worth the pain to his wallet to take her here.

"So, um," Shinji started, "do you know what you want?"

She didn't answer right away, but pondered at the menu. "I don't know. Duck L'Orange looks pretty good, but then so does that Filet Mingon," she told him wistfully. "But being as we're here, why don't we start off with _foie gras_ pate and then with _escargot_? Hmmm?" she purred.

"What's _escargot?_"

The redhead gasped at him. "You don't know?!" Shinji shook his head in bewildered ignorance. She leaned over the table and whispered to him. "It's _SNAILS!_"

"S..snails?" Shinji couldn't help but grimace.

"Oh, don't make such a face," she chided, "they're pretty good, actually."

"Okaaaayy," he forced out. He took another look at Asuka as she went back to looking at the menu and decided if eating high-priced garden mollusks was what it took to get her into a romantic mood, he'd go through with it.

Just as he tried to ask her another question, his mobile phone buzzed. Shinji picked up the phone and saw a series of incoming texts. He opened up the first and saw a photo of Mari, winking at him. _What the heck?_

The second photo showed Mari in her lavender Chinese dress, the form-hugging design of which fit her curves quite nicely. Shinji found himself looking at the photo until he heard Asuka calling him. "Hey, _Baka Shinji!_" she said to him in an annoyed voice. "What are you _looking_ at?"

Before he could answer he reflexively selected the third photo, which showed Mari's very shapely legs though the slit of her dress. Shinji's eyes went even wider than they were before.

"Who's texting you, anyway," Asuka asked him, her glance narrowing.

"Uh, it's um…Kensuke!"

"Idiot!" Asuka said. "He's all by himself on Valentine's Day so he's bugs us real people with his lonely thoughts." She leaned over on the table. "He's probably sending you booby shots he took of other girls, right?"

Shinji was about to reply when he looked at the next message. In the next photo, the curves of Mari's ample cleavage could be seen through the openings in her dress.

"Yes! I mean, no!" he nervously told Asuka." It's just piloting stuff, nothing important!"

"Well don't let it ruin our evening. Spending freaking two weeks in the GeoFront without getting out, now we have our one chance for fresh air and these children don't want to leave us alone."

"I'll just shut it off then!" Shinji told her. Normally for pilots to turn off their cell phones was against NERV regulations, but Shinji figured this was worth getting in trouble later for. He quickly deleted the last few messages he had just received and then turned off his phone, tucking it into his jacket pocket and breathing a sigh of relief. To his most pleasant surprise, Asuka went back to reading the menu like nothing had happened.

A waiter went by them pushing a cart filled with deserts and Asuka swooned as it went by, gasping with delight. "Ohhh, Crème Brulee! Napoleons! Bananas Foster! Baked Alaska!" After seeing the cart she excitedly waved her hand in the air, trying to call their waiter.

"What are you doing?" Shinji asked.

"Ordering desert. What else?"

"But shouldn't you wait until after the meal?"

Asuka shrugged. "Hey, life's short! Never know what might come next!" At that moment the waiter came over and she grinned at him with bright eyes. "Hi! Could we have…"

* * *

Patrick entered the boys' suite to the smell of cooking. He sniffed the aroma and called out "Shinji, are you here?" There wasn't a reply so he walked into the kitchen.

Standing at the kitchen stove with her back to the doorway was Rei. She was wearing a dark blue wrap sweater paired with a simple, light blue knee-length skirt, with wool socks and slippers. A yellow apron covered her clothes as she worked in the kitchen. She didn't reply to Patrick but her attention was focused on the stove where she was hovering over a large pot.

As Patrick walked over to her, he noticed that the kitchen table was already set for two, with several dishes already there. Dressed in a grey sweatshirt and green polyester track pants, Patrick was carrying a gift bag in his hands that he set on the kitchen counter. Rei saw Patrick and then straightened up from the counter, the soup ladel still in her hand. "Oh!"

"I'm home."

"Welcome home," she told him, leaning up to get a quick kiss from him. Patrick took another smell from the pot. "What's this?"

"Dinner," she said as she stirred the pot again. Patrick reacted in surprise. "You cooked all of this? By yourself?"

"Ikari-kun helped some," Rei said. Patrick leaned over and took a sniff of the soup Rei was preparing, as she took the ladel and offered it to him. "Please try it."

Patrick took the ladel and scooped out a small portion, holding it to lips so he could blow on it to cool it down. He looked at what appeared to be normal miso soup.

"You're reluctant," Rei told him.

"I still remember the last time I ate something you cooked," he said with a smirk. She was actually a bit defensive. "I think I've improved since then!" Patrick smiled at her and then took a taste as Rei waited for the response.

He licked his lips in response. "Don't worry, it's good," he told her and Rei smiled in relief. Next to the stove a bell rang and Rei promptly went to the toaster oven. Methodically first putting on hot gloves, she carefully pulled out a fish from the oven and then placed it on the counter and then quickly grabbed another pot and poured sauce on the fish, just as Shinji showed her earlier. Patrick watched the whole thing in surprise. "_You_...cooked _fish_?"

"Yes," Rei said, offering Patrick chopsticks. "Please try."

"Are you going to eat this, too?"

"No. It's just for you."

Patrick leaned over and put both of his hands on Rei's arms. "You don't have to go this far," he told her. "I'm okay with your food choices."

"Illustrious-chan told me that you also often have a second lunch after eating with me," Rei said. Patrick blushed in response as it was true. Rei, being a vegetarian, didn't eat meat or fish. When the two of them had meals typically Patrick wouldn't get anything that Rei herself didn't eat, and that meant he ended up eating a lot of tofu, soups and salads. Sometimes it just wasn't enough for his American appetite, and Patrick would typically sneak in a snack consisting of a sandwich or whatever else he could find with meat in it. He didn't want to make lunches with Rei difficult by eating meat in front of her.

"Well...I..." Patrick stammered.

"There's no need to be embarrassed," Rei said. "I actually don't expect you to eat the same things I do."

He shrugged apologetically. "I know, it's just that I just feel awkward eating stuff like that when I know you can't stand the smell of it."

"I know it, so I work on adjusting myself," she told him. "Cooking this teaches me to filter out the smells that I don't like and concentrating on making it something that you do like." Rei again offered the chopsticks. "Please try."

Patrick took the chopsticks and then took a bite from the fish. The sauce was a good contrast with the somewhat dry fish and he found it was delicious in combination. He took a second bite and gave Rei a nod of approval. Looking at the kitchen table, Patrick saw that she had already set up with other dishes, plates and everything else and that her presentation was extremely neat. It melted his heart to know that she was putting so much work into the dinner."You don't have to go to so much trouble for this," he told her.

"I wanted the challenge," she replied, carrying the fish over to the table. "I feel like many times I'm useless."

"Useless?! You?"

Rei looked at him with stoic seriousness. "I am unable to do anything of value other than be an Evangelion pilot."

"It's the same for me," Patrick told her, trying to be encouraging. "All I know is this stuff too. That and how to live in the mountains, not that it's useful here."

"It was useful three weeks ago," Rei said, speaking of their recent adventure in the wooden cabin on Mt. Fuji.

"I guess that was true," he told her. "Maybe one day you'll find something that really suits you, and all of this experience you have from EVA will be there for you when you need it. In the meantime," Patrick said as he grabbed his gift bag from the kitchen counter. "I have something for you that doesn't require much skill but I know that will fit you just fine." He handed the bag to Rei. "Please try."

She took the bag and opened it, and saw another box inside. From the weight and dimensions of the inside box, and also from Patrick's expectant glance at her Rei could tell it was clothing. "Happy Valentine's Day," he told her.

"I'm supposed to give you chocolates," Rei said.

"I like Japan a lot, " Patrick said, "but I still play by American rules and that means the guy treats the girl on V-Day. Is it okay?" Rei didn't say anything further, but quickly took the box and went to the bathroom, leaving Patrick to hold the bag.

Three minutes later she came out wearing it: a sky blue _Qipao_, elaborately embroidered in white and fitting her petite figure perfectly. She had removed her wool socks and walked barefoot on the carpet back towards the kitchen where Patrick was standing.

"Do you like it?" he asked her. Rei looked at her outfit. "I like the color," she said, as the dress's fabric was nearly the same color as her hair. "Do _you_ like it?"

Patrick put his arms around her and held her tight against her. "Just seeing you like that is the best present I can get today," he told her. Patrick whispered into her ear. "Don't ever think you're useless," he told her. "I think you're wonderful, and whatever you try to do I'm behind you all the way."

"Thank you," she said, putting her arms around him and burying her head in his chest.

"No need to thank me," Patrick said. "Just keep being you."


	24. Chapter 23: Breaking the Curse

Vinson and Sheffield walked into Central Dogma and took a good look around them as they entered. All around them operators and technicians from the NERV staff monitored consoles and relayed communications back and forth in preparation for the day's activities. On the large holographic screen in front there was a live-cam of a section of the destroyed part of Tokyo-3 city that was topside of the GeoFront. On two adjoining displays were status readouts of NERV's active Evangelions. There were six units on the display, each color coded to the unit. On the left display were Units 02 (in red), 05 (in green), and Rei's new Unit 07 (in blue). On the right side were Units 01 (in purple), 04 (in orange), and Kensuke's now activated Unit 08 (in yellow). The remaining screens showed different tactical readouts or camera angles for the action that was about to begin.

The two commanders walked onto their platform at the top level and then looked down one level below them. Standing on the operations platform was Misato, wearing her old red NERV officer's jacket combined with the new uniform. The EVA controllers were all at their stations making final checks as the preparations were completed.

"Are we ready, Colonel?" Vinson called down to Misato. She looked up and nodded confidently. "Yes, sir. All six units are getting into position and we'll be ready to start the exercise soon," she reported.

"What's the game," Sir John asked the admiral.  
"Three on three," he replied. "This is our first chance to really see if our new force is ready for action." Vinson and Sheffield both sat down on chairs and then the commander motioned to Misato. "Proceed when ready, colonel."

Misato turned her attention to the controllers as they performed final checks on the exercise. "Everything ready?" she asked hopefully.

"All units are in position," Hyuga reported. "Weapon simulation systems are all loaded and ready for action."

Captain Aoba now chimed in. "The combat course is cleared and ready," he said. Misato turned to Maya. "How about the new units?"

"The First has a steady 85% sync rate with Unit 07," said Maya, "Unit 08 is only at 29% so far, with a wide fluctuation range."

"It's his first real action so I'm not surprised he's nervous," Misato commented. "He'll just have to roll with things." Misato stood up and faced the display, as behind her Hikari and Toji now walked on the platform, both wearing NERV uniforms. "Sorry I couldn't get your EVA in for this too, "Misato told Hikari. "they're still working on getting her active."

Hikari looked greatly relieved at not having to participate. "It's okay, Misato-san," she said.

"Still, you should study what's about to happen," Misato told her. "At least this will give you an idea on what we can do with the EVAs." Misato then turned her attention to the pilots, whose images were now on the main screen. All of them wore their plugsuits and were seated on their control thrones. Most of the pilots were calmly seated at attention but Kensuke, wearing his new olive-colored plug suit, was giddy with excitement.

"Good morning! Today is our first combat training exercise with the newly rebuilt EVA force," Misato announced to all of them. "As you can see it's kind of crowded today, as we have _six_ units on the board."

"This exercise," Misato said as she changed the display to a tactical map of the ruined section of Tokyo-3, " is simple elimination. Each side is on a team of three, which I've conveniently sorted into boys versus girls. You have the entire designated area to fight in, and all units have paint-loaded weapons including your Prog knives, the last side with units still standing wins."

"What do we get if we win?" Patrick asked out of curiosity.

"Oh, we'll all have a party, and the winning team will choose the outfits that the losing team will wear to the party," Misato said with a smirk.

_Oh, shit_, Patrick thought to himself, _if we lose_ _they'll probably make us wear bunny outfits_. A horrible image of himself, Shinji and Kensuke wearing bodysuits with rabbit ears, high heels, and fishnet pantyhose entered his mind.

Hyuga looked up at Misato. "Combat screens are all green. Ready to go."

"Okay, kids," Misato told everyone. "Let's go!"

Most of the EVA pilots were experienced and as such took everything in stride. Kensuke however was charged up with for what was going to be his first real action in the EVA. "Yes!" he shouted. "I'm going to kick ass!"

Shinji and Patrick both winced at the hubris while Mari gave him a polite smile and Rei just stared at the screen. Asuka replied back to Kensuke in a snarky voice "Aida! If you can actually get a shot on me I swear will kiss you."

Invisible hearts danced on Kensuke's eyes. "REALLY!?" Asuka just said "hmpft" with a sly smile and then closed her video screen. The other pilots closed their video screens in quick succession.

Misato looked at the other controllers, all with smiles of their own. "Oh, this is going to get _very_ interesting!" she said aloud.

* * *

The three girls moved their units into the combat area first. As they did so they opened private video screens to each other.

"So what's the plan?" Mari asked Asuka.

"After what I just did Aida is going to spend all day hunting for me," Asuka said with a smirk. "So expect him to go roaming around guns blazing like John Wayne. The First will get into a good firing position and then pick him off. Meanwhile we split off and hunt the others: you take the Yankee, I'll get _Baka_."

"You better hope that I don't get to Shinji first," Mari said. She smiled and winked and then closed off the screen before Asuka could vent off at her. _That hussy! She wouldn't dare! _"Hey! First!" Rei looked up into the video screen. "You know what to do, right?"

"Don't worry," Rei said plainly. "I'll cover you." Rei then switched off the video, leaving Asuka to think up the best way to punish Shinji this time around.

A minute after the girls entered the combat zone, the boys entered from the opposite direction. Before Kensuke could join the conversation Patrick quickly opened up a channel to Shinji. "I got an idea," he told him. "Why don't we just let Kensuke go bezerker and draw their attention and then we sneak over to their rears and get them from behind."

"Because that's exactly what they want," Shinji told him matter-of-factly. "Asuka's baiting him."

"Shinji," said Patrick, "General Kensuke is so hyper that there's no way he's going to be useful other than a target."

"I'll take care of him," Shinji said calmly. "Asuka's probable plan is to try and split us up, then shoot us one at a time. "

"Then what did you have in mind?"

Shinji pointed to two places on a tactical map that he brought up on the display. "Draw out Units 02 and 05 and bring them here," he said, pointing to a section of the map. "I think I can get Kensuke to hold his fire until you get them over here."

"You're the boss," Patrick told him. "How about Rei?"

"She'll take the overwatch position and you already know how good she is that that," said Shinji. "So just be careful and don't make yourself a target. I'm still working out what to do next."

Patrick nodded. "Got'ya. I'll set up on the other side and try to smoke them out." He then turned off the video channel. Shinji then opened up his own channel with Kensuke, hoping that his plan would work.

* * *

Patrick Forrestal took Unit 04 and carefully maneuvered through the city streets, bounding from wrecked building to wrecked building. He could see from the monitor that there was a high tower closer to the girls' side of the battlefield, and knew that was the most likely place for Rei to set up her sniper position. He rolled on one side of a destroyed warehouse and then quickly peeked over the corner to see what was down the boulevard. There he waited until the signal was given.

"All EVA units are in starting position," Hyuga reported to Misato. She smiled to herself. "Start now."

Inside the entry plugs a loud beep was heard, as a clock display went up inside all of the pilots' video display. The pilots were given five minutes to accomplish the mission, which Patrick knew in terms of battle could seem like a long time. With the clock starting, Patrick ordered Unit 04 to crouch down and then start racing towards the next road intersection in front of him.

He maneuvered carefully through several sections of the old city, searching for any one of the girl team's EVAs. There weren't any other sounds in the battlefield, as all of the other pilots were keeping as stealthy as possible. This went on for nearly two minutes until Patrick caught a glimpse of a green EVA several blocks in front of him.

_There you are_. Seeing that Unit 05 was headed east, Patrick moved back one block and dashed down a broken-up avenue to catch up with where Mari was headed, careful to move as close to the buildings as possible to keep from being seen. To make the ambush work he would need to get Mari to change direction and go south, where Units 01 and 08 would hopefully be waiting.

Within a few seconds EVA-04 made it to an electrical tower and Patrick crouched down again, waiting for Mari to walk into his sights. He felt footsteps from Unit 05 and then boded his time, trying to time the hit exactly right.

At the first glimpse of green Patrick let loose with a three-round burst from this pallet gun. When he saw EVA-05's head turn around and see him, he then raced across the block and behind another building. He had wanted to be seen, hoping that Mari would take the pursuit.

As Unit 04 ran down the street he heard blasts behind him and saw multi-colored ink blots hit buildings in front of him. "Target in sight," Mari called out on the common audio channel. "In pursuit!"

EVA-04 took a corner and started to race down another street. As Unit 05 turned the same corner, he quickly turned back and fired the EVA's pallet gun at her, then jumped off and ran down another street. Mari closed the distance between them quickly, shouting "Tally ho!" as she started to catch up with Unit 04.

_Almost there_. Patrick swung EVA-04 around and shot the pallet gun one-handed at the green Evangelion. Unit 05 responed with a barrage of paint as Patrick took one more corner and raced as fast as he could.

"I'm going to get you, you bugger!" Mari yelled as she turned the corner. As soon as she did so she was faced with another EVA unit two blocks in front of her. Painted olive with yellow stripes, it had shoulder mounts like most of the other EVAs and a helmet with two red eyes and an oversized jaw. Mari quickly stopped Unit 05 in its tracks as EVA-08 opened fire on her.

Unit 05 dodged the other EVA's paint pellets, slamming itself against a wall and bringing her own pallet gun to bear. She got off several shots as Unit 08 dodged behind the crumpled steel beams of a collapsed train station. Mari saw something out of the corner of her eye and swiveled around to react, but then felt four thumps on the EVA's abdomen. Her screen flashed a bright red message, saying ELIMINATED. Standing a hundred meters from her position was the purple EVA-01.

Mari relaxed back in the throne, her playing time now over. "Oh, Puppy-kun! You _shouldn't_ have!"

"Sorry, Lusty-chan," Shinji replied on the common audio and then quickly moved EVA-01 out of sight.

* * *

Perched on the control throne inside EVA-02's entry plug, Asuka saw the tactical display indicate Unit 05's demise. "Stupid girl," she said out loud. "You had that coming." She pulled on her actuators and carefully studied the map as she moved Unit 02 forward. "Gotta do this myself, then."

Patrick slid EVA-04 across from a ruined city park and waited a while, hidden by uprooted trees and power line towers. Unlike Mari, Asuka was more experienced and would be harder to entice into an ambush thought Patrick. That is, unless her ego was sufficiently bruised.

He felt vibrations on the ground and knew Unit 02 was moving in his direction. Trying to again time everything just right, he waited until the red-colored Evangelion was only two blocks away from him before making his move.

Asuka called to Rei. "First, you see anything?"

"Negative."

"Hmm. They're not playing the usual game today. Better watch out this time." Asuka moved Unit 02 around the corner and down the street, trying to keep as close to the buildings as possible. Looking down towards some wrecked power lines she saw a glimpse of something that shouldn't be there, and brought down her pallet gun to fire.

Once Asuka spotted him hiding behind the towers, Patrick immediately jumped EVA-04 out of its position and ran full speed down the street, his own pallet gun firing forward as he did so.

EVA-02 sprayed the street with paint fire as Unit 04 charged her. Rather than try to duck the shots, Patrick put all emphasis on speed, aiming his Evangelion right for the middle of Unit 02. Asuka was very annoyed that Patrick was suddenly charging her.

"Forrestal, what the fu…"

Before she could finish the sentence Patrick leapt Unit 04 right over and in front of Unit 02, positioning himself in the air to drive in a kick with the legs as he came barreling down towards the red EVA. Asuka saw the move coming however and immediately blocked it with Unit 02's left arm, pushing away the silver-white EVA-04 into the building across from her. Rather than try to continue the melee, Patrick swung Unit 04 around a corner and then down the avenue.

Racing down the street, he looked behind the EVA and saw Unit 02 following him at a full sprint. Now it really was a race, as he needed to push Unit 04 and keep just ahead of her until they made it to where Units 01 and 08 hopefully were.

After ten city blocks and the both of them leaping over a collapsed bridge Patrick swung around one more corner, and then swiveled around while he brought up his pallet gun. EVA-02 was very close behind, around two hundred meters, before Asuka saw Unit 04's gun barrel around the corner and knew it was a trap.

"You're going to have to do better than that!" she said as she put the brakes on Unit 02, sliding down the street so hard the EVA's foot dug into the pavement. As Unit 01 popped out of another corner and opened fire, Asuka backflipped EVA-02, performing several somersaults until reaching the opposite end of the wide intersection.

Both Unit 01 and 04 kept up fire on Asuka's position as she dodged around, getting off several shots towards both of them. Finally she landed between two collapsed buildings and Patrick decided that he could take a chance.

"Shinji!" he called out, "cover me!"

"You sure?"

"I'm going to take a chance at this." Before hearing what else Shinji had to say Patrick cut the video screen off and checked his weapon. He waited another moment as Shinji increased his fire towards Unit 02's direction and then Patrick moved Unit 04 as stealthy as possible alongside another tower until he was within reach of the red EVA-02.

_Ready...now! _

As EVA-02's head turned towards him Patrick pushed his own Evangelion towards her at full speed, running up the side of a collapsed building and then diving right into Unit 02. He pointed the pallet gun and let loose, trying to barrage the red EVA with as many shots as possible until he crashed into it.

Asuka was wise to the maneuver and just as Patrick was coming down from the dive he stepped aside and then grabbed EVA-04's arm, flipping it on it's back. The silver-white giant landed with a thud on the ruins they were fighting over and before Patrick could bring the pallet gun up to fire Asuka already had her Progressive Knife out. In a half second the simulated blade hit EVA-04's neck and dispersed red ink all over. Patrick let out a big sigh as the graphic ELIMINATED was shown on his visual display. "Damn it!" he shouted as he pounded on the actuators.

Still under fire from Shinji, the redhead didn't have time to celebrate the win and quickly bounded back behind another building. "Nice try, _Baka_," she said to Shinji on the common audio, "but you knew I wouldn't just run into that, didn't you?"

Shinji rolled Unit 01 around and sought cover under another crashed-in train station while Asuka continue to fire on him with her pallet gun. "Then just come get me then," he said simply. He edged just a little more out in the open, enough for her to see his current position behind the debris.

"Have it your way," she growled and then again unsheathed EVA-02's Prog Knife. Screaming a battle cry she then charged EVA-02 straight towards Unit 01, trying to pounce on the Evangelion before Shinji could pull it up out of cover and fire on her. Just as she began her jump towards Unit 01 Shinji shouted "EVA-08, NOW!"

Asuka twisted Unit 02 in mid-jump, turning around to see something behind her and saw the green-painted EVA now two hundred meters away with its pallet gun aimed right at her. She tried to somersault the EVA out of the way but she was still in mid-air. There was a blast and several thumps and then EVA-02 went down to the ground right in front of Unit 01.

She tried to push on her actuators but they wouldn't budge. On the forward display were the words ELIMINATED.

"WHAT?! THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!" Asuka cried out. "Who shot me?"

"YES!" Kensuke jumped for joy inside of his entry plug. "YES! YES! YES!"

Watching from the operations deck, Kensuke's sudden hit on Asuka got everyone's attention and approval. "I don't freaking believe it!" Toji said to Misato. "What a lucky shot!"

"EVA-08 gets the kill," Misato reported to Asuka, barely suppressing a laugh in doing so. "Good shot, Kensuke!"

"AAAGGHHH!" Asuka screamed as she opened up a visual screen with Misato in Central Dogma. "No fucking fair! He didn't even start fighting until just now!"

"Doesn't matter," Misato told her. "At least he was patient enough to hold his fire until he got a good target."

"And you owe him a _big_ one!" Toji said from behind Misato, joyfully pointing at Asuka. The redhead just sneered at both of them and then shut off the video channel.

Kensuke was still elated, jumping his EVA all over the ruined city block where the battle was being fought. "Yes! That was so awesome! This totally..." At that moment Kensuke felt a heavy thud hit his EVA's head and felt it fall backwards. On his screen were the words ELIMINATED.

Shocked, he shook his head and took another look on the screen. "What happened?!"

"EVA-08 knocked out by EVA-07," Misato announced. "Good shot, Rei."

Kensuke just sat there on the throne, deflated. Shinji then opened up a video channel. "Sorry, Kensuke. It's not a video game: there's no pause between battles."

"Oh well," Kensuke replied, taking off his glasses and gently breathing into them. "I'm happy. Hope you don't mind that I'll be kissing Miss Asuka tonight," he said with a sly voice.

_If only you knew the horrors that await you there_, Shinji thought. "Be careful what you wish for," he said in warning to Aida-kun, and quickly shut off the video channel. Kensuke paid him no mind as he cleaned his glasses, smiling smugly to himself.

Shinji knew that Rei would quickly find another firing position so he ran Unit 01 into the city center, looking for another likely hiding spot. While Rei was quite deliberate he also knew from experience that she wasn't usually quick: she would take her time in adjusting into a new spot. Shinji hoped to catch her before she could do that.

Jogging through the center of the battlefield zone, he kept his eyes out on higher buildings, towers, or anything that would provide good cover for a sniper. On the northern side of the town he saw a pair of wrecked high-rises that looked like a suitable place, and skirted Unit 01 over in that direction. It was when he was nearly at the two towers that he noticed movement from above and turned his view upward. Just as he did so the giant blue and yellow frame of Unit 07 came crashing down on him from above.

Shinji immediately dove Unit 01 to the ground and rolled out from under Rei's EVA. Unit 07 quickly stood up and drew its progressive knife, then charged at Unit 01 forcefully.

_This isn't like Rei at all_, Shinji thought. _The new EVA is more aggressive than Unit 00._

He pulled out his own knife and parried the attack, slamming Unit 07's knife back and then making thrusts of his own. The blue EVA jumped back and then made another strike with its knife. For a few moments both EVA's did parry combat with knives, and Shinji felt that they were equally matched.

"A _melee_ attack, Ayanami?" he called out on the audio, grunting as he struggled with her. "This is new for you!" Rei didn't respond but kept at the attacks, finally pushing Unit 01 into the side of a building. Shinji again rolled away and after seeing a large abandoned big-rig truck he grabbed it and threw it at Unit 07's head. As Rei batted away the flying vehicle Shinji was able to grab his pallet gun and quickly got off two shots before Rei could close the distance.

Rei looked up and saw ELIMINATED on her own display. Breathing a sigh of relief, she slumped back down in the throne, glad for the combat to be over. She had not wanted to directly fight Shinji.

On the main display in Central Dogma the score came up on the screen. "Three to Two," Misato announced. "The Boys win this one!" There wasn't cheering from the pilots, as most were tired from the experienced but many of the personnel in Central Dogma applauded at the end of the combat round, including the controllers.

"The boys worked very well together," Misato said to Hyuga as he nodded in agreement. "I think I might shake up the teams after this."

"Colonel Katsuragi," the admiral's voice called from above. Misato turned around and faced Vinson.

Admiral Vinson stood up and crossed his arms, giving no other indication of approval or displeasure. "Your pilots are still too used to one-on-one battles with Angels. Give your pilots more training in small-unit tactics. They need to improve there."

"Yes, sir," Misato acknowledged. "Anything else?"

"Start training them for an close-quarters assault," he concluded. He then left the command platform along with Sheffield.

Inside EVA-07, a video channel opened up on Rei's visual display and Shinji came on. "Ayanami!" he said to her, "You were very aggressive today!"

"It's the new EVA," she said to him. "This is his inner nature."

"Fight a little better than what you did today and I don't think anyone could get in your way," he said with a smile. Rei didn't' smile back but just nodded. The video channel closed and Rei just sat there for the next few minutes as the other EVAs started to move back to the GeoFront cages. _I never liked piloting much before but perhaps its more suitable to me now_, she pondered. _Is it just the new EVA, or something else?_

* * *

After the training battle the pilots began returning to the pilot ready room, met there by Toji and Hikari. Patrick waited for Rei to arrive, accompanied by Shinji. All of the current pilots were still wearing their plug suits.

"Hi there!" he said to her as she entered. Rei quickly left Shinji's side and went to Patrick, who gently caressed her hair upon seeing her. "You did great today! I've never seen you fight like that before."

"You've also improved," she said to him. "I had a difficult time locating you on the battlefield."

"I guess my skills are up," Patrick replied, trying to be modest. "Hey, are you free tomorrow?"

"Yes, from nine until evening. "

"Great. Misato gave us leave, we can go out of the city this time." Rei's curiosity was peaked. "Where?"

Patrick winked at her. "It's a surprise." They both heard the doors open again and turned to see who it was. Entering the ready room was Asuka, and the others went completely silent as she walked in.

Hikari turned to Toji and whispered. "You're not going to make her go through with this, are you?"

"You better believe I'm going to," Toji told her. "This is what she gets for being so freaking cocky."

Patrick and Rei both turned to Shinji. "You OK with this?" Patrick whispered.

Shinji was somewhat embarrassed and sullen, as Asuka had given him a good yelling on the video channel on the way back to the cages. "Just let her play it out," he told them. "This is how I got Kenskue to hold his fire during the match." Shinji then moved closer to Patrick, whispering in his ear. "He's never kissed any girl before," Shinji told him.

Patrick gave him a wince. "So nice of you to do this."

"Not really." Shinji said, and then all of them turned their attention to the center of the ready room.

Standing in the middle, in front of the pilots' chairs was Kensuke. He had a smug smile on his face, crossing his arms in expectation. Asuka stood on the other side of the room, her eyes quivering in anger as she was motionless. The others surrounded the two on both sides, but gave them plenty of space.

"Fair is fair," Toji declared, looking straight at Asuka. "You made the bet, now pay up!" Asuka hastily turned around and looked at the door for a moment in silence. There was a tension in the room that kept all the others quiet.

Asuka shook her head to settle her hair, and then swiveled on her feet to face the others. Her angry face was erased, replaced with one with a pleasant smile and softer, warmer eyes. When Shinji saw her expression he held his breath, as he knew what was going to happen next.

The redhead started to slowly walk towards Kensuke. "Okay, okay," she said aloud. "I'm not so stuck up that I can't admit defeat. I can break his curse today."

"Curse?" Mari asked Hikari.

"No one will go 'B' with him until today," Hikari told her.

Asuka walked right up to Kensuke, looking slightly down on him as she was a few centimeters taller. She smiled sweetly, and spoke to him in soft tones as he waited in anticipation. "Alright, Aida-kun. I'm a girl of my word and I did make a promise to you, so prepare yourself." Kensuke nodded in delight, taking off his glasses and standing close to her, his arms at his sides. Asuka carefully closed the distance, putting her face right in front of this. "You truly deserve this, okay?" Aida smiled widely, then closed his eyes and awkwardly puckered up his lips in front of Asuka.

Mari looked again at Hikari "She's not actually going through with it, is she?" Hikari gulped down the reply, as along with Shinji and Rei she knew very well what Asuka was capable of. "Um, you'll see," she replied to Mari.

Taking her hands and gently holding his face, Asuka bent over and softly placed a kiss right on Kensuke's lips. Several of the pilots cooed in shock as they watched. Kensuke's face was in complete bliss, his hands gently flaying in the air. Asuka held the kiss for several seconds as everyone quietly watched.

Suddenly In one swift motion Asuka brought up her right knee and thrust it directly into Kensuke's crotch. The shock reverberated across his body, as the level of pain inflicted was so great Kensuke forgot to scream. Only with a very high pitched yelp did the boy crumple to the floor, his hands between his legs as the other pilots gasped.

As the others looked on in stunned silence Asuka dusted off her hands and then walked toward the girls' locker room door. Without looking back she said "Hope that was worth it," with a snide smile as she left the room.


	25. Chapter 24: Confessions

The following morning as per their routine Rei waited for Patrick in front of the boys' suite. She wore a simple white collared shirt and a light blue skirt that went just above her knees, along with her wool socks and slip-on shoes. Patrick came out dressed in jeans and a t-shirt and as he did every morning embraced her tightly upon seeing her.

He led her to the elevators and they made their way to the top of the GeoFront. Once reaching the outer doors an armored HMMWV with NERV security was waiting for both of them. Patrick helped Rei step inside and then they both settled in for the one-hour drive.

Along the way Patrick asked if Rei wouldn't mind wearing a blindfold, as he wanted to keep their destination secret until they arrived. She nodded in agreement and then he gently tied a red bandanna across her eyes.

Holding Patrick's hand for the rest of the hour-long ride, Rei could tell from the direction they were taking that it was not the road to Hakone, but somewhere else in the hills to the east of Tokyo-3. For about half of the ride the road narrowed and became more bumpy and for the last five minutes there was no road at all.

Patrick got out of the HMMWV first and then carefully helped Rei down from the rear passenger compartment. When she reached the ground Rei felt the earth was soft and uneven. She sniffed the air and registered in her mind a large amount of unusual smells. Noises of both people and animals were heard all around.

"Almost there," Patrick said to her as he led her by the hand a short distance. They walked over more rough ground, Rei sniffing at the air again as they got closer. "Is this a zoo?" she asked him.

"Better," Patrick told her. He stopped, took both of Rei's hands, and gently lowered them. What she felt next seemed to her like some sort of clothing, similar to one of her sweaters but coarser. The source of the fabric then let the secret out by bleating a loud "BAAAAA!"

Patrick quickly ran behind Rei and undid the blindfold. The red bandana was lifted from her eyes and Rei saw that she was touching the grey wool of a sheep, one that was looking at her with great curiosity. She drew a deep breath in excitement.

"Is she real?" Rei asked Patrick.

"If you mean that she's not cloned or anything, I think so," Patrick said. "Look around you!"

Rei scanned all around her and saw where she was. They were both standing inside of a pen made of wooden stakes tied together, and next to it was a large red barn. Inside of the pen were a variety of farm animals, including large pigs, goats, cows, and a brown and white dog that was darting between them. Beyond the barn they could see a pasture with more cows and cattle and other animals. A few people wearing denim overalls were working in places as black-suited security personnel also fanned out, keeping a careful eye on everything. The sounds and smells of the farm were everywhere around them.

She looked up at Patrick who was beaming as she caressed the wool of the sheep. "This place," he motioned around them, "is all yours for the next two hours. Go anywhere you like."

Rei didn't say anything, but the expression on her face showed her feelings as she gave a big smile and with her eyes wide immediately went exploring the farm.

For the next hour Rei went from place to place, observing and touching the animals where she saw them. Patrick followed her as she did so but even he couldn't keep up as Rei would bound from place to place, looking and feeling and listening to each creature large and small. Trying to soak in as much of the experience as she could, Rei jogged everywhere from horse stalls to chicken coops to watching the cows being milked. Patrick would join her at times, and then watch her leave to go and explore something new. For the time that she was at the little farm Rei was transformed from the stoic Evangelion pilot to just a little girl with a fascination for nature. Like earlier when they both explored the tide pools at the beach it was at these moments that Rei seemed the happiest, and Patrick thought it was worth any amount of effort to see her be this way.

Rei bounded into the barn again and didn't come out for several minutes. Figuring to just leave her alone for a bit, Patrick waited outside as the dog came towards him. Taking a moment to sniff the unfamiliar figure the dog then decided that Patrick was friendly and rolled over, allowing the boy to vigorously scratch his belly. As he sat there and pet the dog Rei came back from the barn, carefully holding something in both of her hands.

Patrick looked down at what Rei was holding and saw a tiny, fluffy white bunny perhaps little more than two weeks old. The little bunny looked like it was sleeping peacefully as Rei gently stroked it with her fingers down it's back. She sat down next to Patrick, who was careful to not allow the dog too close to the baby rabbit as Rei continued to pet it.

"I see you found a new friend."

"Yes," she said, with her attention on the baby bunny. "It seems we are both quite attached to each other."

She continued to gently stroke the bunny for a few moments as Patrick watched. "I don't suppose they would let me keep him, would they?" Rei asked Patrick.

"Not if it's that small," he answered.

"It's just as well," Rei said. "Children shouldn't be separated from their parents too early."

Patrick made a wince. "Don't I know it."

They both sat there for several minute enjoying the clear, sunny weather as Rei continued doting on the bunny while Patrick would throw sticks and let the dog play fetch with them. After a little while the dog trotted off, looking for something that smelled interesting.

"Do you like this place?" Patrick asked Rei.

"Yes, very much so," she said to him. "I like natural things. Not like NERV." She looked around the little farm again. "What would it be like to live here?"

"It's a lot of work," Patrick said. "When I was younger there was a couple who ran a farm two miles down from the cabin that was like this. They got up at sunrise and worked all day at it, taking care of animals and such. The work looked hard but they seemed happy with it."

"I guess we couldn't do this," she said with some sadness in her voice. "Technology is still needed for us to survive."

"But it's still nice to visit," Patrick encouraged. The two of them sat for a long while enjoying the sunlight and the breeze and all of the sounds of the place they were in together. Being there with her on such a good, shining day reminded Patrick of why he loved the girl next to him. Still even at this moment, something again tugged at his heart and he figured now was as good a time as any to bring it out. "Rei?"

"Yes?"

"Why did you agree to go out with me?"

"I wanted to," she told him matter-of-factually as she looked up at him.

"A month ago you told me to stop trying. Then all of a sudden you say 'yes', and here we are." Rei said nothing in response but continued meeting his glance. She cocked her head a little as she listened to him.

"Anyway," he continued, "it's not that I mind. I mean, the last few weeks have been really great. But, I guess…I just want to know why."

She was silent for a while as Patrick patiently let her think on the response while she gently petted the baby rabbit in her hands. After a very long moment she started to answer.

"After the missile attack, when they brought you to the hospital," she finally told him, "I saw your face before you were treated. It had been severely damaged. I thought to myself 'I would miss seeing your face again.' Once I realized that then I began to think of all of the other things I would miss about you if I could not see you again. It was then that I understood that I actually thought of you quite often."

Patrick looked at her warmly as she continued. "When you had recovered, and when you had told me that you didn't mind having the LCL stabilizer, I was quite surprised. I do not like having the stabilizer," she said as she looked at him with a slight touch of sadness in her soft voice. "It is a reminder of the parts of me that I do not like. But that you took it without regret made me understand that you really did want to make a connection with me. I was afraid of that before."

"That's why you said what you did in the scanner room," Patrick asked.

"Partly," she told him. "I did not think that I would be compatible with anyone in this way and it would be illogical and futile to try to be. But," Rei said, her eyes widening a little more, "it was not what my heart wanted."

"What _does_ your heart want?"

She sighed a little, letting herself relax a little bit more. "I still am not sure of it, but I know that at least the way things are now I want to see what else there is in the world. And," she told Patrick as she looked at him, "it might be better not to do that alone."

"So you ran away at first," Patrick realized.

"I'm always running away," she told him.

"Then I'm really glad I caught you," he told her, leaning closer to her. "I actually had given up for a moment."

Rei was genuinely surprised by his answer. "Was that why you did what you did in the EVA?" she asked him, referring to his own self sacrifice in the defense of Tokyo-3 from the month before.

"I don't really know," Patrick told her. "Clearly I wasn't thinking at all when I did that." She nodded in response. "You told me something after they brought you in to the hospital."  
"Really?" Patrick asked. "I don't remember anything at all about that."

"You asked me why I hated you."

Patrick was shocked. "Hated?! Did I say that?"  
"Yes."  
"What did you say to me?"

"I said that I did not."

"I'm really sorry," Patrick said as he rubbed his head in embarrassment, "I probably was really incoherent there."

"I never hated you," Rei continued. "Did you think that I did?"

"I guess, being as you sort of pushed away the night before, maybe it got to me."

They both sat there at the farm in what had become an awkward moment between them. Rei looked away from him, staring at nothing in particular. "I never wanted to do harm to you," she said finally, "but sometimes I don't know what to say in certain situations."

Patrick smiled at her. "You really only learn by doing," he said to Rei, "and right now you're doing great."

"I am not really doing anything," she told him.

"If you open up to me like you're doing now," he replied, scooting even closer to her now, "then that's all that's required."

"Forrstal-kun,…"

"Um, Rei?" Patrick interrupted. "You know," he laughed a little, "you can just call me Patrick now. It's okay, don't you think?" Rei was about to reply but thought about it for a moment. "It doesn't seem suitable, somehow."

"Do you feel we're not there yet?" he asked her, wondering if her use of his last name was really a way to keep some distance between her and him.

"It is not that," she told him, "but the sound doesn't seem adequate." She mouthed out the name Patrick in Japanese syllables. "PA-TO-RI-KU, PA-TO-RI-KU. It seems like a lot to say."

"So is Forrestal, though."

"FO-RE-SU-TA-RU, FO-RE-SU-TA-RU," Rei again mouthed out. "This is true. Illustrious-chan calls you Pats. How is that?"

"I know she says that to be cute," Patrick replied, "but honestly I don't like being called Pat. Pat always seems like a girl's name."

"Rei is also used as a boy's name," she observed.

"But it's simple," said Patrick. "I kind of like that."

_Simplicity is an objective_. Rei concentrated on his name a bit more. "PA-TO-RI-KU-FO-RE-SU-TA-RU," she repeated, then changed the sound slightly. "FO-_RI_-SU-TA-RU. FO-RI-SU….FO-RI…FO-R-RI…" Having an idea, she looked up at Patrick with a confident look on her face.

"What is it?"

"_Forri_," she said. "You are _Forri-kun_."

Patrick thought about it for a moment, rolling the sound inside of his mind. "Forri-kun, huh?" He looked at her expectant face, and slowly smiled. "Alright," he agreed, "It's Forri-kun, then."

* * *

After returning to the GeoFront the couple parted to their separate ways, the newly christened "Forri-kun" going for more tactical training while Rei took the long elevator ride down to Terminal Dogma.

She slid her ID card and quietly entered the scanner laboratory, now the home of Dr. Foch. Foch was bent over a desk working on an analysis when Rei walked into the room and silently waited until Foch noticed her, which took a couple of minutes.

"Ah!" he said, turning around once he realized Rei was standing behind him. "Madamoiselle Ayanami, what brings you down here?"

"You said that if I wished I may continue being the subject of your examination."

Foch raised his eyebrows, as he had not actually expected her to return. "I see. Yes, I would welcome your participation. If you don't mind me asking, what is it that you are hoping to learn from this?"

Rei was stoic. "I wish to know more about the functions of my body."

The scientist adjusted his glasses. "For curiosity's sake?"

"No. I want to know if it's possible that I could be modified."

_Now there's an interesting request_. "Your physiology is a precarious balance, my dear. In between our visits I've extensively read up on your medical history. From a biological standpoint you shouldn't even be standing in front of me breathing like you are now, such is the contradictory nature of your existence. But you now want to _alter_ this? Correct?" Rei nodded in response.

Foch held his chin in deep thought as he turned away for a moment, carefully considering how to bring together both his own objectives and Rei's as he had some idea what the girl might be after. "It's an understandable request. Let's please first discuss this and then we can go from there. Are you available for the scanner?"

"Colonel Katsuragi allows me to be at your disposal for the remainder of today," she said. "As late as necessary."

"Then let's not waste time," Foch replied, walking over to the scanner controls. "Please disrobe and I'll prepare the unit. We can talk further while you're inside." Rei immediately started to remove her clothes as the lights inside the plexiglass tube were turned on.

The scan process that Foch conducted took several hours, during some of which the two of them discussed Rei's new motivation for volunteering for Foch's research. It took until later that night to complete the examination and finally after eleven o'clock Rei drifted down to the tube's opening and let her self out of the small entrance after the LCL was drained out. Foch moved from the scanner operations console to another workstation that was connected with a large LCD screen that was touch-operated. As Rei walked up to the screen still naked and wet Foch brought up an image of Rei's body on the display.

Rei looked carefully at the three-dimensional image on the screen as Foch adjusted the program. The image of her body was digitally broken up into several views, each focusing on a particular biological system. Rei chose one by gently touching the sub-menu with her small fingers and it expanded. Examining the image carefully Rei used her fingers to manipulate the display view, quickly bringing one particular area of her body into closer focus.

Foch joined her next to the display, a bathrobe in his hands. "Do you see it?" he asked Rei.

"Yes," she replied. "There's a uterus but no eggs."

"Correct," Foch said. "In normal human development _Oocites_ are typically developed in gestation, and then held in storage even before birth. Once the body reaches sexual maturity then the cycle of ovulation and menstruation begins."

The scientist pointed at the screen as he explained further. "In your case, there was no construction of oocites, the cells that become eggs, in the first place. They weren't removed, but instead as your body's construction was done from manipulated DNA that function was edited out during the compilation stage. There's nothing in your DNA stream that could be a pathway for stem cells to transform into oocites. Therein lies the difficulty."

"Could regular human eggs or organs be transplanted?" Rei asked.

"Probably not. The incompatibility with your LCL-based blood would prevent metabolization. Your organs can be interfaced with regular human bodies but not the other way around." Foch looked at Rei as he offered her the bathrobe. "Did you know of your infertility?"

"I was never told directly," she said as she took the bathrobe and started putting it on. "I learned of it from discussions that the commander had with Agaki-sensei while I was here."

"How did you feel about that?"

Rei looked at the scientist unemotionally. "Nothing at first. Because my function was only as an EVA pilot, reproduction was never a consideration."

Foch straightened his glasses again. "But now it is?"

The girl was straightforward with him. "I do not want to be a 'lab rat' forever, Dr. Foch," he said. "I would like a future for myself beyond EVA. "

"And having the ability to do this would be part of it?"

Rei nodded. "It goes beyond being able to conceive and bear children, but yes."

The scientist narrowed his glance at her as he folded his arms. "What is a simple task for nearly everyone else will be a near-impossible quest for you, my dear" he told her. "This goes beyond the constructions of your cells but also affects your hormonal levels, your brain activity, the ability to have a proper sexual response cycle, which is questionable in your case, and many other factors. Add that your biological state is already precarious and making any changes to this need to be very, very carefully planned out. Then there's one other factor."

"What is that?"

"As a derivative of the Evangelion there is also the question of how your rather unique metaphysical nature, your implanted soul, will work with any of this. What happens when an Angel made from the stuff of Heaven gives birth here on Earth? What will become of any offspring, if that's even possible in the first place? While I don't want to dissuade you all the same you need to carefully consider the enormity of the task you place upon yourself. "

Rei tied on the bathrobe and softened her expression. "I know it will be difficult," she told Foch, "but I still want to try."

"Very well," he said in resignation. "The time commitment from you will be considerable, and this is not without risk to yourself. If you can dedicate yourself to the purpose of the work, however, I will help you find your way as best I can." Rei again nodded, her face expressionless.

"Being as we're going to spend a lot of time together," Foch said as he turned from the monitor and towards a nearby cabinet. "We're likely to get to know each other very well. Tell me, my dear, I know you like tea. Do you have a preference for one in particular?"

"Instant Green Tea," she said softly. Foch couldn't help but chuckle at her answer. "Well, your tastes are certainly simple. Which is a good thing." He looked inside the cabinet. "I'll see to it that I'm properly stocked," he told her. "The journey will begin tomorrow."


	26. Chapter 25: The Officer's Ball

To boost morale and to also serve a way to better unify the highly diverse staff at the new NERV, Commander Vinson had ordered that near the end of February there would be an officer's ball, which would serve as a formal dinner for NERV's senior staff and critical employees. In addition to the NERV officers the Evangelion pilots were also invited to participate.

* * *

"So, do you think this one is sexy enough?" Asuka asked Hikari as they were looking through the redhead's closet in her bedroom at the Girls' Suite. It was packed with outfits that somehow in her short time back at Tokyo-3 she had still managed to acquire. Asuka pulled out a red satin dress that was strapless, with a very short hemline.

Hikari looked at the dress. "Isn't it going to be cold wearing that?"

"Hey, if good skin is my best asset far be it for me to hide it," said Asuka. "How about you? What are you going to wear?"

"I got something back on Osaka-2 last month," said Hikari. "I bought it in case there was ever a fancy dinner with Toji's family."

"Do they _ever_ actually go out?"

"They haven't yet," replied Hikari. "But you know, it looked good and Toji-liked it and all, and it was on discount." At that moment Misato barged into the room. "Girls, I've got hair appointments made for all of us. They're bringing in people from Hakone over here so that should save some time."

"This is such a big deal," Hikari commented. "I never thought the Alliance would care so much about just a dinner."

"This sort of thing is important," Misato told her. "NERV right now is full of staff from so many different countries, some are from the old Tokyo-3 staff, and others are from the Japanese military. There needs to be some way to help people tie the ends together so we can work better as a team."

"By putting on makeup, dressing up in expensive outfits and listening to long, boring speeches," Mari quipped from outside the room.

"Something like that," replied Misato with a grin. "It'll be fun, and I know the boys will love to see you all pretty. Anyway, you girls go out and get done up, I'll join you in a bit."

"Where's the First?" Asuka asked. "It's time to work another miracle on her."

"Maya's got her tonight," answered the officer. "Too bad. I was looking forward to dressing her up again."

The other girls quickly left, chatting away as they went out the front door and Misato was left alone in the Girls' suite. Once she was by herself she quickly went to her own room and into the tiny private bathroom that was inside.

_We've sort of let it go since Kaji's been back,_ she thought to herself. _I'd better check myself just to be sure. _Brushing by PenPen as he waddled out of her bathroom, she pulled open her bathroom mirror and ripped open a long-plastic package, revealing a pregnancy test. Misato pulled down her skirt and panties and then sat down on the small toilet and held the white plastic test in place while she fulfilled her biological needs.

She pulled up the test and saw the display. A single red line was shown on the open window, along with a tiny cartoon rabbit that gave a "thumbs down" sign. Misato blew a big sigh of relief.

_Thanks. Can't be too careful these days. _

She put down the test on the edge of the sink, pulled up her panties and skirt, and then casually looked at the test again. As she saw the display, a second red line slowly began to appear. The cartoon rabbit then changed his sign from "thumbs down" to "thumbs up." Startled, Misato dropped the test in the sink in surprise.

_Don't panic! Don't panic! These things fail, right? Just do another one and everything will be okay._ She grabbed a second test and quickly drank a cup of water, thinking it would help her to pee better. She again went on the toilet and repeated the process with the new test. This time the rabbit quickly gave her the "thumbs up" symbol, winking as he did so.

Misato leaned against the door in anguish, biting into her fist as she considered what she just found out. She could only blame herself, she knew, although of course not entirely as it obviously took the participation of two humans to get this result. She took a deep breath as she registered the facts and then tried to work out what would happen next. _I actually don't mind so much but not now, oh please not now..._

* * *

Despite the lack of resources, NERV engineers had worked on remodeling what was formerly Commander Ikari's office, replacing the now destroyed black obsidian floor with conventional tile and otherwise converting it into a makeshift ballroom. One major change that was made from the old commander's décor was that the interior lighting was substantially increased, giving the cavernous former office a much warmer feel than before.

At six-thirty that evening NERV's newly christened ballroom began to slowly fill up as officers and other VIPs entered and made greetings and introductions with the others that they saw inside. An open bar was set to one side of the room and in front of it quickly formed a long line of people waiting for drinks as they engaged in casual conversation.

The re-organized NERV didn't have time or money to issue dress uniforms so personnel were encouraged to wear what they wanted provided it was formal. Many of the men wore dress uniforms from service in prior assignments, a few who were assigned to NERV before the Alliance takeover still had the previous dress uniform and wore them. Female staff for the most part wore dresses and gowns in lieu of a uniform.

Among the first to arrive, Captains Hyuga and Aoba stood in the middle of the ballroom each holding drinks as they greeted others who were coming in. Both had on the dark blue prior NERV formal uniform. They were soon found by Sir John Sheffield, who wore a bright red ornamented jacket and black slacks of British design along with a khaki beret. Upon seeing the junior officers Sheffield approached both of them, scotch in hand. "Hallo, gentlemen!"

"Good evening, sir," they replied in accented English.

Sheffield took a good look around as more people came into the room, some now getting placed at tables that were spread throughout. "Seems like a good turnout so far. Tell me, did the former Commander ever do anything like this?"

"No, sir," Hyuga said to him. "Commander Ikari was never much for a social life."

"Then let's re-set the tone accordingly," replied Sheffield who then took a big swig from his scotch. Both of the Japanese officers seemed a bit nervous at the general's more relaxed behavior, something that didn't go unnoticed by Sir John.

"A word of advice to both of you," the general said to them. "Liven up a bit: that's an order. If you're going to be around Snake Eaters like the Admiral and myself you need to know when to relax and when to focus. The admiral may not be quite who you think he is."

"_Snake Eaters?_" Aoba asked the general.

"We're both from the Special Operations community," Sheffield explained. "I was Special Air Service at first. As I'm sure you know the Admiral was with the US Navy SEALs. That side of the military's not as formal as you see in conventional units, but our prowess speaks for itself."

"We'll try to adjust," Hyuga said nervously. Before the conversation could continue they were joined by a young lady with black hair and a dark complexion wearing a lavender night gown. At first the two junior officers only saw the back of her head as she waived to someone at a distance, but then when she turned to them they saw a face that had its bottom half covered in ornamental black tattoos.

"Ah, Miss Wellington," Sir John greeted Moria. "I'm afraid I haven't seen you much lately. You look absolutely smashing tonight. You're doing well?"

"Keeping a stiff upper lip, Sir John," Moria said with a swagger. Like him she had a scotch in her hand and immediately chugged it down in front of everyone.

"That's the spirit!" Sheffield said to her. "Who knows? You might just find a husband tonight!"

Wellington playfully pointed to her face. "With this mug? If they can get past that then they deserve me!"

"Truly spoken, _Leftenant_," replied Sir John as he chinked glasses with the lieutenant.

"Ah, how are we all doing tonight?" The group turned around and saw Admiral Vinson walking towards the group. Vinson also wore the prior NERV officer's dress, his uniform having flag rank symbols embroidered on the lapels. The two men noticed that Vinson's attitude was not the hard-charging commander they had come to expect, but he also was more relaxed and friendly. In one hand he held a glass and in the other he had a bottle of aged American whiskey.

"Good evening, sir," said the two Japanese officers, trying to keep their tone more casual.

"G'evening." Vinson pointed at the converted ballroom. "Like our little remodel?"

"Definitely a change of pace, sir!" Hyuga replied.

"Let's just say I have a little more taste than the previous occupant, but we won't judge too harshly," Vinson looked at Sheffield with a knowing glance. "I'm sure back then you guys had more on your minds then what was written on the flooring."

Aoba decided being direct might be a better course of action tonight. "Perhaps sir, if we had read it more carefully we would have known better what we were getting into."

Vinson nodded. "Don't be hard on yourself, Captain. Ikari kept his cards close the vest. Just count yourself lucky we got dealt another hand." Without being asked Vinson then poured the whiskey into Aoba's glass. "By the way I heard you play in the recreation lounge the other day. Was that a Gibson guitar you had?"

The younger officer's eyes brightened. "Yes, sir! It's a Tak DC Custom! You know it?"

The Admiral took a swig at his glass. "Believe it or not when I was fourteen I had a sort of 'rebel' phase where I took all my savings and bought a second-hand Firebird. I played that freaking thing in the garage every night for a month until my old man took it and smashed it on my speakers."

Shigeru Aoba winced, as he knew how much such a guitar cost. "Oh, no!"

"Oh, yes. He ordered me to cut my hair and get a life, so to speak. At that age it scared the crap out of me and two years later I had an appointment to the Academy. Everything mostly went up from there."

"Begging the Admiral's pardon," Hyuga interjected, "but can I ask you a question?"

Vinson poured whiskey in Hyuga's glass. "Shoot away, son."

"Your spoken Japanese is better than any of the other Americans here, except perhaps for the Forrestal boy. Did you live in Japan before?"

Vinson grew a wider smile. "I did in fact." He pointed directly downward. "Right here."

"In Tokyo-3?"

"Before it was Tokyo-3," the admiral corrected. "Twenty years ago this was Camp Fuji, the US Marines had it then. I did an eighteen-month stint as a trainer for Japanese special operations forces. The city wasn't here then, it was just a few buildings and a bunch of training ranges."

"Prior to that it was the Imperial Army Academy, wasn't it?" Sheffield asked.

"Correct, set up by the Meiji Emperor. Before that it was some sort of Edo shrine. Someone knew this place was important," Vinson mused. "Boy, if they only knew what the hell was down below."

"As you said, sir," replied Aoba in a more serious tone, "_Someone_ knew it was important." The little group was silent for a moment in reflection, all taking a drink in unison.

On the opposite side of the room the pilots had their own reserved table, and standing by it were Kensuke and Toji. Somehow Toji was put into a suit and tie and continually pulled at the collar.  
"Can't stand this thing," he said as tried to loosen up. "Why the hell do we have to wear getups like this?"

"I don't mind so much," Kensuke said as he tucked at his bow tie. He was wearing a black tuxedo along with an oversized, multi-colored bow. "I just wished they had real dress uniforms for us instead of this monkey suit!"

"Hey, guys," Forrestal-kun said to both of them as he arrived. Patrick wore a black suit with a bolo tie, and was wearing black cowboy boots that he had earlier managed to find in one of the nearby shops. His hair was combed neatly and gelled tonight, giving him an unusually clean appearance. Behind him was Shinji, who wore a khaki two-piece suit with tie. "They get started yet?"

"It's still early," Kensuke told them. "The girls haven't even showed up."

Patrick looked over at Shinji who seemed apprehensive about being there. "Dude, you okay?"

Shinji didn't immediately reply but carefully looked over what used to be his father's office. The memory of him standing in front of Commander Ikari's desk wearing handcuffs after his attempt using the EVA to destroy Central Dogma after the incident with Unit 03 was still strong in his mind. "Yeah, it's just the last time I was in this room it didn't go very well."

"Hello, Ikari-kun!" Shinji heard a voice and turned to his right. Standing in front of him was a young Japanese girl with black hair done in French curls, wearing a long yellow evening gown. Shinji thought the girl looked familiar. "Um, have we been introduced?"

"Ikari-kun, it's _me!_" He blinked for a second and then matched the voice. "_Class Representative?_"

It was Hikari, who wearing the gown with matching low heels and full makeup looked nothing like she normally did, as even her freckles were now covered by foundation. Patrick and Kensuke also did double-takes as Toji came right up to her. "Wow!" said Shinji. "You look good!"

"I'll say!" Toji said as he arrived at her side. "You finally wore the gown!" Hikari nodded and then frowned as she saw Toji's messed-up collar, sighing heavily. "Toji!" she scolded as she tried to fix the collar. "You can't manage for a couple of hours?!"

"I hate this shit, you know that!"

Hikari poked hard at his chest. "Don't embarrass yourself! It'll be over before you know it." She continued to work on his collar as Toji drew her closer and started to gently run his fingers down her arm. Getting wind of the coupling and not wanting to interfere, the other three boys moved aside to another part of the room.

As Shinji and Kensuke spoke to each other, Patrick heard a noise from behind and swiveled around. "Psst!" He looked and saw a silhouette of a girl at a far corner of the room, hiding behind a tall post. Without telling the others Patrick quickly walked over to the post to discover who it was.

"Hello, Pats!" Mari whispered to him. Patrick took a good look at Mari as she stood behind the post, giving her a long, playful wolf whistle. "Looking pretty good, Lusty!" he complimented.

Mari motioned to her own outfit. "You think this will do the trick?"

Patrick shrugged. "If not Prince Charming might show up instead, with you looking like that."

"I'm sort of hoping they're one and the same," she told them. "Anyway, remember earlier I asked if you can sort of help out a bit."

Patrick drew a breath, not really wanting to get involved but feeling obligated anyway. "Sure. What do you need?"

"When she comes just distract the Valkyrie, I'll do the rest."

"For how long?"

"Ten minutes ought to do it." Patrick nodded in agreement.

"Oh, and by the way," Mari told him, "I saw her by the elevators earlier. You've got a real treat coming tonight!"

Patrick knew what she meant. "Rei?"

Mari pointed across the room behind them. "There they come. Now remember what to do!"

He looked across the ballroom and saw the two of them enter through the front doors. Maya Ibiki, herself wearing a simple but elegant black cocktail dress along with black pumps and patterned stockings, led Rei as they moved towards the center and where Shinji and Kensuke had now positioned themselves. The two boys turned around as the ladies approached and from the distance Patrick saw that both were near-frozen as they saw their fellow pilot. He could completely understand why.

_Just when I think it can't get any better she does something like this. _Patrick began to slowly make his way to the others.

"Ikari-kun," Rei said as she stood there, her hands clasped in front of her in silent expectation as Shinji and Kensuke's eyes both opened as wide as whirlpools.

"A-A-Ayanami!" Shinji just said to her, unable to say anything else.

"Woah! You look really cute, Ayanami-chan!" Kensuke exclaimed, quickly grabbing a small camera and shooting a picture of her. Rei was wearing a midnight blue party dress that Maya had picked out for her that was elegant while being flirty. The dress had shoulder straps but also blue mesh fabric that covered the arms and décolletage, with an embroidered bodice and a high collar that was also embroidered in blue lace. It fit her figure well, with a small waistline and the hem of the skirt ending just above her knees. The look was completed with polished black low-heeled, open-toe pumps and lavender hose that accentuated her shapely legs. On her face she wore light makeup including red lipstick and lavender eye shadow.

"It's not too much, is it?" Rei asked Shinji.

"No," he told her with complete honestly. "Just perfect."

"You look very good, too." She told him, her eyes brightening a little.

Shinji felt embarrassed at the compliment. "Uh, thanks!" he said. "I never really get used to wearing stuff like this."

"Rei-chan?" Maya asked her. "Are you okay?"

"I'll be fine, thank you. I'll return the clothes to you tomorrow."

"No need," the officer said with a smile as she saw the reactions of the two boys. "They're yours. I'll see you later, take care!" Before Rei could protest Maya then hurried off to see others that she knew in the ballroom. Rei turned around to face the two boys again and found someone else standing in front of her.

"Forri-kun!" she said, somewhat startled by Patrick's sudden appearance.

Patrick didn't say anything but just took a deep breath. His wide smile and the expression of his face told her all she really needed to know. "Does it look all right?" she asked him, blushing a bit more.

"_You_ look a lot more than all right," he said, stepping right up to her. Rei smiled and nodded. Patrick looked right into her deep red eyes. "I'm almost afraid to even touch you!"

"Forri!" Rei said in dismay. "I won't break apart!"

"Of course," he said with a wink. Patrick gently took her hand and brought it to his lips, kissing it like he would a princess'.

"Damn," Kensuke whispered to Shinji, "American boys are such insufferable romantics!"

As Patrick was playing prince to Rei's princess out of the corner of his eye he saw both Asuka and Misato enter through the front door. Misato wore a black dress with red and white sashing while Asuka wore a Chinese-style _QiPao, _her dress designed like the others but colored in bright red. Auska's hair was still worn long with red A10s holding it back, and she walked on bright red pumps.

_Time to pay off the favor._ "Oh, there's someone we need to see!" he suddenly exclaimed, taking Rei's hand he quickly dragged the both of them towards the door. "Later, Shinji!" he said as they hurried off. Rei looked at Shinji worriedly as Patrick dragged her towards Asuka and Misato.

Shinji just waved bye, surprised by the sudden interruption. He turned around to go back to the pilot table when he noticed someone else in his way. "Well hello, Puppy-kun!"

The boy took a long look at the tall girl as she presented herself in front of him. Gone were Mari's glasses and her twin-tail braids, as her hair now flowed behind her in loose, luxurious curls. She wore a strapless cocktail dress with a metallic bronze appearance, a large blue bow tied in front. Her long legs were covered in stockings decorated with tiny holographic patterns that seemed to move and change color in the light, and she wore transparent glass slippers with high heels. A bronze wrap covered her shoulders, accentuating the look.

Shinji gasped in shock. "Lusty-chan!"

"So," she said to him, casually peering behind Shinji first to see where both Asuka and Patrick were located, "you look quite handsome tonight!"

"Uh, thanks!" Shinji said, still with his eyes fixated at Mari's legs.

"You don't go to these sort of things often, do you?"

"I don't think I've ever been to anything this formal before," he said to her, finally looking up at her face. "Everyone really looks good tonight!"

Mari smiled. "One does try to look their best for this sort of thing. I'm honestly not much for parties myself but one of things about being British is that you have to keep up with society. I'm a bit surprised that you don't do this more often yourself, good looking as you are!"

Shinji could feel the blush begin on his face. "Well, I…."

The tall girl turned to Kensuke, who had been completely ignored in the exchange between her and Shinji. "General Aida," she said to him sweetly, "could you be a dear and go get me a punch?"

Kensuke was dreamily staring at Mari in all her gorgeousness, unable to comprehend what she had just said to him.

"General?" she gently prodded him.

The shorter boy shook out of the dream. "Oh, what?"

"Could I get a punch, please?"

"Oh! Of course! Right on it!" In the haste to curry favor with Mari, Kensuke quickly ran over to the bar on the edge of the increasingly crowded ballroom.

"Splendid!" she said as Kensuke ran off, and then turned her attention back to Shinji, her smile widening and her blue eyes twinkling as she spoke to him. "Now we're alone!"

* * *

Patrick dragged Rei all across the ballroom and to the front door where he saw Asuka and Misato standing together and talking. Rei was taken aback by Patrick's suddenly brisk behavior, as to her this was not like his personality at all. "Forri-kun, what is going on?"

"I'll explain it all later," he said to her, "just please follow along. Hi, Asuka! Hi, Misato!" he called out as they nearly reached the door.

"Where the heck is _baka_? I told him to meet me by the door," Asuka told Misato.

"Oh, he's probably roped into something," the older girl replied. Just then Patrick and Rei arrived right in front of them.

"Hi, guys!" Patrick said, winded by the rush to get to the door. Rei was also catching her breath.

"Hello, you two," Misato said. "Rei! You look absolutely _lovely_! Did Maya give you that dress?"

"Yes, Misato-san."

"Well it looks darling on you. Don't you think so too, Asuka?" The redhead gave Rei a cold glare. "It would have looked good thirty years ago," she said snidely.

"Well both of you guys look really good too!" Patrick said somewhat nervously. "Asuka, that's a really cute dress!"

_What's with this idiot? He's never said anything like this to me before_, Asuka noted mentally. "Sure, it's just like everyone else's, except I make it a lot better."

Misato quickly interrupted. "I need to make some arrangements for our table, so I'll catch up with you all later," she said and then quickly left into the crowd.

"I was wondering," Patrick asked her, again trying to make conversation out of thin air, "maybe you could take Rei shopping with you sometime. You know, get her something else that would look good on her."

Asuka narrowed her glance at the two of them as Rei stood there bewildered. "Sorry, we tried that once already. She's damn near impossible to please!" As Patrick continued on the topic Asuka leaned up on her high heels and saw Shinji in the center of the ballroom. He was standing alone with Mari, speaking to her as she began to flirt with him by playing with his necktie. _Oh, no! She's moving in on him already!_

The redhead sought to break free from the ambush. "Excuse me, I have to…" Before Asuka could break off, Patrick quickly sidestepped in her path, Rei still in tow.

"Actually," he told her, "there's something else I need to talk to you tonight about. I really want to try and be a better pilot and I figured you're the expert, so I'll just ask you: what's your secret?"

_WTF? _"My secret?!"


	27. Chapter 26: The Officer's Ball, part II

It took another five minutes for Asuka to extract herself from Patrick's made-up questions as an increasingly skeptical Rei looked on. Finally seeing an opening Asuka broke free, nearly running over Patrick in the process. Through the crowd he could see her making it to the center of the room and Shinji, just after Mari had slipped away. She was not happy with Shinji when she got there and showed it with what looked like one of her trademark verbal barrages.

With Asuka gone Patrick breathed a sigh of relief only to face Rei, who was not at all happy with him either.

"Sorry about that," he started to explain as they both made their way to the pilots' table. "Mari asked for a favor."

Rei correctly deduced what had just happened between Patrick and Asuka: "You distracted the Second so that Illustrious-chan could talk to Ikari-kun?"

"Mari wanted time alone with him, just a few minutes."

"And you agreed to this?"  
"Sorry I didn't tell you earlier. Mari really likes him."

Releasing his hand, she narrowed his glance at him. "You did not consider that they will be hurt by this!"

"Not if she just wants a few minutes," Patrick defended.

"You shouldn't interfere," Rei scolded him. She stopped and looked at him as they reached the table. "I do not like this particular part of you." Patrick, feeling embarrassed and shamed, couldn't say anything in return.

The pilots all gathered next to a long, rectangular table, four chairs on each side and one at either end. At one end sat Misato, while a chair was empty at the other end until Kaji finally arrived. He was not wearing a uniform but had on a dark blue suit with red necktie, and he hurriedly moved over to the other end and pecked Misato on the cheek before motioning to the pilots for them to sit down. As he watched them Patrick couldn't help but notice that Misato's mood wasn't so good either from the way that she turned her cheek to Kaji instead of just kissing him on the lips.

A ting-ting-ting sound was heard on a speaker as the admiral took a spoon and clanged it against a wine glass, giving a call for the makeshift ballroom to come to order. Within a minute the couple of hundred officers and others quietly took their seats, as did the pilots.

Patrick looked down his side of the table. Both Shinji and Asuka had hard faces and Rei had gone from being angry to having no visible emotion (which Patrick wondered might be worse). He took a deep sigh and tried to relax, feeling horrible that his wonderful night with Rei had gone suddenly awry.

Admiral Vinson's speech was mercifully short, and came before the meal. In the space of seven minutes he thanked everyone at the new NERV for their tireless efforts, calling special attention to the accomplishments of the scientific and engineering experts such as Doctors Viraat and Foch (who were seated next to each other at one table). He then asked for a moment of silence from everyone for those who had lost their lives, both during the battle of the GeoFront, and in their more recent combat actions. After the memorial Vinson simply encouraged everyone to enjoy the evening, drink and eat as much as they could, and then get ready to fight like hell tomorrow because there would not be another break until they won.

Keeping with the theme of mixing east and west, dinner consisted of a unique mix of both western and Japanese dishes. Steak and lobster was served, as was sashimi and other Japanese seafood creations. Trying to focus on the meal, Patrick took a few bites of everything and found it unusually good.

"This is delicious," he commented on the lobster. "Is it real?"

"Yes," Misato told him, "the Alliance pulled strings and got actual lobster. Hard to find these days."

"The steak is good, too!" Toji exclaimed. "No second-grade meat with these guys!"

Patrick turned to Rei, who as expected limited her dinner to soup, salad and tofu. "How is it?" he asked her, trying to smile. Rei just nodded without smiling and went back to drinking the soup. _I'm not out of the doghouse yet I guess, _he realized.

The meal kept going and as the evening wore on sharp edges began to soften. Asuka, who didn't say a word to Shinji during the main courses finally softened up when Baked Alaska was served along with caramel chocolate crust cheesecake and Japanese mochi. The redhead picked at the food, eating a couple of bites of each and then thrusting the remaining uneaten portion at Shinji, whose apparent punishment for the evening would be to finish everything on both his plate and hers.

Patrick turned back to Rei and saw that she was trying out the mochi. She nibbled carefully at one piece first, and then ate a couple more after satisfying herself that they tasted good. He tried smiling at her again and this time Rei softened her expression but didn't smile back.

After desert finished Kaji waived to two other men who then carefully pulled portable dividers that were on wheels and separated the pilots' table from the rest of the ballroom. With the dividers around them, the pilots now had some privacy from the growing noise of the other officers outside, on whom alcohol, good food and conversation was now starting to have their full effect. The two men then went outside the new boundary as Kaji reached into a velvet bag he held and pulled out a large green bottle.

Carefully undoing the cap (which went off with a loud pop), Kaji then went from person to person on the table and poured from the green bottle. Each pilot had an empty glass set in front of them at the beginning of the service, and Kaji poured a slightly yellow bubbly liquid in each one.

Mari took a small sip from the glass after hers was poured, licking her lips afterward. Her eyebrows went up. "It's champagne! _Real_ champagne!"

That Kaji was serving alcohol to the pilots caught all of their attention. "You mean this is loaded!?" Toji pointed to the glass.

"An adult privilege," Kaji said as he continued to fill glasses, "for those with adult responsibilities."

"Does this mean because we're pilots we're legal to drink now?" Kensuke asked innocently.

"It's just for the dinner, you idiot!" Asuka scoffed from across the table.

The champagne wasn't Patrick's first taste of alcohol, as his old friend Vance had once snuck beer cans into their NERV-2 quarters and they both tried it. Seeing the champagne now brought back memories of their time together in the Nevada desert, long before he came to Tokyo-3. He watched Rei as she sniffed the glass, her eyebrows going up in surprise as the bubbles touched her nose.

Kaji arrived at the end of the table and was about to pour champagne into Misato's glass when she quickly moved her hand over the top. He raised a curious eyebrow as Misato smiled nervously. "Been overdoing it lately, gotta cut back a bit!" Misato told him as she grimaced in embarrassment. Kaji in turn smiled curtly, narrowing her glance at her for just a moment.

_Damn! He knows!_

Turning back to his own seat at the end of the table, Kaji poured himself a glass and then set the bottle down on the table. His mood seemed much more serious than his usual jovial self, he was almost solemn as he again stood up and faced the group. The whole group became quiet as they waited for Kaji to speak.

"Each of you bear a unique burden," Kaji told the children, "one that those of us who are not pilots can not truly comprehend. It's a lonely task by definition and one fraught with peril, forced to confront terrors that even grown men and women would shirk from. Yet each one of you must bear it and you have borne it through many challenges." He looked at Shinji as he said this, and the boy just nodded in understanding.

"What I ask of all of you tonight is simply to not bear that burden alone," he continued. "While your roles as pilots are all unique, and something that each of you must address individually, you are all in the same boat so to speak. You may not be always be able to reach out to someone else to get them to truly understand how you feel, but you _can_ reach out to your fellow pilots and they _will_ understand. Let that mutual understanding be the bond that carries all of you through the difficult times we face ahead. Whatever conflicts you have between you," Kaji said as he glanced in Asuka's direction, "whatever differences that exist between you all, what you all have in common with each other is greater."

Patrick looked at Rei as he listened to what Kaji was saying. She met his glance and then smiled a little, which made him feel a lot more relaxed for the first time that evening.

"Strengthen those bonds between you, _all_ of you," he admonished, "and leave behind that which only holds you back. Don't let guilt or anger chain you down. Learn to forgive, and find your fulfillment in doing so." Kaji raised his glass. "To all of you, cheers!"

"Cheers!" everyone said in unison while they raised their glasses, and then the whole group took a sip. As alcohol was a new experience for most of them, there were a few grimaces at their first taste. Hikari tried to swallow down her sip as Shinji and Kensuke made frowns at the first try. Mari had no difficulty, and neither did either Patrick or Toji. Asuka finished her glass, tilting her head high up until it was gulped down and then quickly clutched her throat.

"Just a sip! Not the whole glass, Asuka!" chided Shinji.

"How the hell was I supposed to know!" she replied with a raspy voice.

Rei took a cautious sip, swishing the bubbly liquid in her mouth and then swallowing it down. "Do you like it?" Patrick asked her. "Not bad," she told him as she analyzed the sensation she felt.

Kaji poured an additional small amount of champagne in Asuka's glass and then sat back down, looking directly at Misato as he did so. She was unusually quiet tonight, he knew, and wanted to give her an opportunity to make her own statement with her charges.

"He's right," she told the group as they turned their attention towards her. "Don't let people in your past be a burden to you." Misato then stood up and raised her own glass, filled with cider. "To Ritsuko Akagi!"

Kaji held his glass up again, joining her. "To Ritsuko." The other pilots then all joined in. "To Ritsuko"

There was a moment of silence as the children took small sips from their glasses, the experience going smoother this time. The table was then quiet for a while, as everyone waited for someone else to go next.

Mari stood up first, looking a bit reluctant and then holding her glass in front of her. "To Nigel Illustrious," she said out loud. "To Nigel," then said the others.

"Who's that?" Hikari whispered to Mari as she sat back down.

"My father," she replied. "I'll tell you more, someday."

Kensuke now stood up, with his own glass. Nervously, he held it front of him. "To General Tageuchi Aida!" he said. "To General Aida," replied the others.

Now Toji stood up, also with glass in hand. He tried to look tough and held the moment a bit. "To…Ryu Watanabe!"

"Wasn't that the kid who would always beat you up in first grade?" Kensuke said to him.

"Yeah," replied Toji. "He's kind of the reason why I grew up to be this way."

The next to stand up was Hikari, who carefully lifted herself out of the chair. Her face was slightly blush, but tears started to form in her eyes as Toji put his hand behind her.

"Okay, here goes," Hikari said. Taking a deep breath, she then held up the glass and looked directly at Shinji. "Shinji Ikari," she said out loud. The others murmured in response.

"Shinji?" Patrick asked aloud.

"When Toji got hurt in the EVA," she explained as tears ran down her face, "at first I blamed the whole thing on Shinji. I didn't know then what happened but…I hated him for a long time afterward. It wasn't until I learned more about…about what the EVA was when I realized the truth." Hikari spoke to Shinji from across the table. "Shinji, I'm so sorry!" she cried out. Hikari couldn't finish the toast, as emotion got the best of her and Toji comforted her as she sat back down. Everyone else toasted in her place. "To Shinji!" they said as they raised their glasses yet again.

Patrick sensed it was now his turn. He closed his eyes and let memories run through his mind for a moment. He thought he knew what he wanted to say, and then stood up himself. Raising his own glass, he said to the group "To Vance Vin..." but then held back the rest, unable to finish.

Misato looked at him with concern as the others waited. "Patrick, what is it?"

He looked down at Rei, who met his glance again, her deep red eyes peering right into him. _No_, he thought to himself as he looked at her face, _there's someone else I need to forgive tonight._

"Sorry," he said to the others, "Let me back up." He raised his glass again, and took a deep breath.

"To Doctor Harrison Forrestal," he finally said. "To Doctor Forrestal," the others joined in.

He sat back down, feeling strangely relieved. Patrick felt a little light-headed and as he glanced down the table he felt something tug at his hand. He looked down and saw Rei's tiny hand inside of his own. He turned towards her and saw her finally smiling at him, and he smiled back. It was like a mountain of pressure coming off of his head and shoulders just to feel her there with him, he thought.

There was a longer silence as everyone absorbed the moment and what was becoming more than a few sips of champagne. Kaji then stood up himself, and lifted up a glass. His face looked hard and serious.

"To…" he stumbled a bit, as he paused himself with the many dark memories that came to him at that moment. "To Ryoji Kaji!"he said, his voice faltering a little.

"Why is he toasting himself," Toji whispered to Kensuke.

"He blames himself," Kensuke replied. "God knows all the terrible things he must have done to get to the truth."

The others all joined in and this time Misato stood up as well, holding her own glass up high. "To Kaji!" they all said, this time more loudly as all of the children tried to show appreciation for their guardian. Both Shinji and Asuka called out again, "To Kaji!" Asuka then stood up and ran straight towards him, quickly embracing him. Kaji let his hand caress Asuka's hair as she held on to him tight, and looking down the table he saw Misato smiling at him, putting her hand to her lips and blowing him a kiss from her side. For once in his life Kaji was beyond words at the show of appreciation and he nodded in acknowledgment. Finally Asuka let him go and everyone sat back down. The mood around the table was elevated, in between the champagne and the heartfelt confessions all of the children and their two guardians felt an outpouring of emotion.

Amidst the chatter that had come up from the others Rei took another sip from her champagne glass. The bubbly had a definite effect on her, she analyzed to herself, as she had never felt so light-headed before. Rei looked around the table, smiling and even giggling a little as she watched other pilots playfully banter. Even Shinji and Asuka were back in a good mood and chatting with themselves and the others.

"Did you have too much?" Patrick asked her. Rei looked at him with wide-open eyes as her cheeks blushed bright red. "I don't think so," she replied in a higher-pitched, very relaxed voice. "I feel just fine!" She then hiccupped loudly.

"I think maybe it's time for you to lay off," Patrick told her, feeling a bit buzzed himself.

"I need to do something first," Rei said and then she stood up with her glass raised, waiting until the others started to quiet down.

"To... " Rei started, and then she hiccuped again to everyone's laughter. She waited until they were quiet and spoke again, her mood becoming more serious. "To...Ikari!"

"To Ikari!" everyone joined in. "To Shinji!" Toji called out.

"No," Rei said. "To Ikari...Gendo Ikari." At the mention of the former commander's name the entire group went suddenly silent.

Everyone waited for someone to do or say something, and for an awkward minute Rei stood there with her glass in the air while the others wondered what they should do. Finally Misato stood up and took her own glass and held it up. "To Gendo Ikari," she said in a serious tone.

Kaji then also stood up and raised his glass. "To Gendo Ikari," he said, in an equally serious tone as Misato.

One by one the pilots all put out their glasses and jointed the toast, until there was only one pilot left. Like the others, Shinji's face blushed a little from the alcohol but his mood had turned very sour. "No," he said, looking up at Rei. "No. I can't do it!"

"Ikari-kun," Rei pleaded with him. "Please." Everyone else had their eyes focused on Shinji.

"No!" he fought back. "I can't! Not after everything he did!"

Misato spoke to him from her position at the head of the table. "No one's saying what he did wasn't wrong, Shinji," she said. "But that doesn't mean you need to carry all that with you."

"How can you just say that!" Shinji protested. "Everyone was hurt by what he did!"

"And many were also saved," said Kaji from the other side. "Your father was a complex man. There were good and bad things about him."

"Nothing good that I can see," the boy retorted. Seated next to him, Asuka put her face in her palm. "Oh, grow up, will you!"

"Oh, like you're totally OK with _your _father as well!"

"Fine. He's a two-timing bastard. So what!" Asuka said, her voice slurring. "Just don't ruin everyone night with your problems."

Rei slowly approached Shinji. "Ikari-kun," she said. "You need to..."

Shinji stood up and for the first time since he had known her became upset at Rei. "I don't need anything!" he shouted, now getting the attention of others that were outside the table. Memories of the last time Shinji had stood in the room were in front of him. Memories of him being handcuffed and brought to his father in humiliation, in the last time he had ever spoken to him directly. "I hate him!" he shouted. "And I wish he was dead!"

"Shinji, that's enough!" Misato admonished. Before she could say anything else the boy turned from the table and ran out towards the door, pushing his way through several of the other NERV officers on the way out.

"Oh, God!" Asuka groaned. "Idiot! How embarrassing."

Rei turned to follow Shinji when Patrick grabbed her by the arm. "Where are you going?"

"I need to talk to him," she said, still under the effects of the champagne.

"Maybe you should just leave him alone, okay?"

She immediately pulled her arm away from Patrick. "I'm not your doll!" she sputtered and then turned to run after Shinji. Patrick tried to say something in return but could only watch her go, mentally cursing at himself for blowing it again with her.

* * *

On the other side of the room the senior NERV staff was still carrying on with conversation, liquor and now cigars, until Sheffield felt a buzz in his jacket pocket. As the general pulled out his phone, Admiral Vinson watched from the corner of his eye as he was telling tales of an old exploit from many years earlier to the others.

Sir John scanned the screen of his mobile device and then straightened up. Vinson broke off his conversation and walked over to him, a more serious look on his face.

"Omega?" he said quietly.

"Yes," Sheffield confirmed. "This time target is listed as Alaska."

"They're going after our base there?"

"Correct, a direct attack."

Vinson considered it for a moment. "That's where we're keeping the guy with the beard on ice. Funny how they're pretty anxious to put him out of action."

Sheffield took a drink from his glass. "They still fear him, enough to go out of their way to eliminate him before he says anything."

Vinson finished his own drink. "Well, let's ruin their party then."

The commander walked over to the pilot's table and around the dividers. What he then saw of the pilots' table he was not happy with.

"Colonel?" he asked Misato as she was bending over a retching Kenskue. "Oh, Sir!" she said while standing at attention. Kensuke was on the floor as Hikari and Mari knelt next to him and helped clean him up.

Vinson looked around, seeing a group of teenagers in even more disarray than usual. "What the hell are you doing to our pilots?"

Kaji stepped up to the commander, propping up a sleepy, drunken Asuka as he did so. "It's my fault, sir. It's sort of an introductory course in how to handle alcohol."

Vinson sighed and bit his lip to hold his temper. "Looks like they all failed." He then turned to Misato. "Colonel, please select your two most _sober_ pilots, I want you to get EVA units wheels up in 60 minutes."

Misato switched back to her officer side. "What's the target?"

"News from our friend says two Harpies are going to strike our base in Alaska within the next eight hours. If possible I want to do an air-intercept before they've got a chance to launch their units on the base."

Misato turned to Mari. "Are you trained on the Recon system?"

"You mean the _flying_ EVA?" Mari asked, her voice surprisingly calm compared to the other children. "I've done the simulator on it but never actually flew in the system."

"Well today's your lucky day! If you did the simulator well enough then you should be okay. Patrick?"

Patrick lifted his head up, he had been sitting at the table feeling dejected over what had happened. "Yes, Colonel?"

"Go with her as backup. We'll drop you on the ground, anything that Unit 05 shoots down you can finish off when it lands."

"Got it," he said nonchalantly. He was actually glad to get a mission; it would get his mind off what had become a horrible night.

"Sounds like a plan," the admiral told Misato, pounding his fist into his hand. "You two also get going," he told her, also glancing at Kaji. "I want the whole team airborne in 58 minutes."

"Yes, sir!" they said in unison. Vinson then left towards the exit door.

The officers didn't waste any time getting things moving. "Hikari!" Misato ordered, "get Kensuke and Toji back to the boys' suite. Patrick, Mari, go straight to the cages."

"What about a deployment bag?" Mari asked.

"You won't need it this time. Quickly please!" Both of the teenagers picked up anything they had left at the table and prepared to leave, Mari saying her goodbyes with the others while Patrick went up to Misato. "I wanted to say 'bye to Rei," he asked.

"Sorry, there's really no time." She patted him on the shoulder. "Don't worry. Have some faith in her, okay?" Patrick didn't say anything but just shrugged and then went together with Mari towards the door. Kaji then approached Misato. "Katsuragi?"

"Yes?" she said, her voice a little weary.

"Perhaps you should consider letting Hyuga handle this operation."

She looked him straight in the eye. "No." Kaji tried to say something further but she put a finger on his lips. "Not another word until we get back."

"Understood," he said as they both knew the unspoken reasons and then they made their way out of the ballroom.

* * *

Shinji ran down the hallway, away from the place that to him was still his father's office despite being remodeled and redecorated. He was in a blind rage. _How could Ayanami bring him up like that_?, he thought as he raced down a corner, not even sure where he was going.

He made it to an observation deck that faced the spacious interior of the GeoFront. Finally he stopped with nowhere to go as he looked around, seeing the inside walls of the GeoFront all around him. A strong wind was felt as it often was at night inside the structure. The moon could be clearly seen from the opening at the top.

Footsteps were heard behind him and Shinji turned around. Standing in the accessway was Rei, panting heavily as she had raced to catch up with him. In one hand were her shoes, as she had removed them so that she could run faster. The feet of her lavender pantyhose had runs and tears from the running. "Ikari-kun," she said softly after catching her breath.

Shinji moved away from her and towards the railing, turning his back to her as he stared at nothing in particular.

"Ikari-kun," Rei said to him. "You're running away."

"So!" Shinji shot back.

Shinji had sat down on the concrete deck and let his feet dangle from the edge, resting his head on the steel railing. He ignored Rei as she stepped right next to him. "Please don't do this," Rei said to him.

"How can you just forgive him like that?" Shinji said to her, his voice still with anger. "After everything that he did...to Mom, to me, to you, to everyone!"

Rei was direct "I don't ignore what happened but I don't want to hold onto it either," she told him. "I want to be free from him, so I forgive him."

"All I want to do is kill him," Shinji murmured under his breath. "It's what he deserves."

"Do you hate him so much you would give up your life to fulfill your vengeance."

"I'm with EVA, I don't have a life!" Shinji shouted. "And every day that I pilot I have to remember _why_ I'm the pilot and what he did to make that happen!"

"And striking at him would change all of that?" Rei asked.

Shinji thought to answer but couldn't. "He would at least feel the pain I feel," he finally said. After a moment he said something more, his voice becoming more weak. "I thought…I thought I could just let it go, that I was okay to be with EVA now, but when I went inside that room tonight all could think about was what happened, the day that Toji was hurt and…" Shinji's voice tapered off, sniffling as tears flowed again.

Rei came closer to Shinji, kneeling on the floor as she edged next to him. "I know the anger you have," she said to him. "I felt that way also towards him."

"When were _you_ ever angry?" he asked.

"When I realized I was lied to, and that I was not intended to be anything else but a doll for his purpose. I felt helpless in the anger then."

"I never thought you would be like that," said Shinji, now softening his tone towards Rei but still not looking at her.

"He did something else," Rei told him slowly, "something that broke the trust I once had in him. In that moment I let my anger go and the world almost ended as a result."

"Why didn't it?"

"It was because of you," she said, "seeing you then reminded me of when I first saw you, when I first touched you. I knew at that moment there was something better and I wanted that." Shinji rested his head on the railing, his strong feelings starting to burn themselves out.

"I have more reason to hate him than you do," said Rei, her voice now showing more emotion, "but I do not want to travel the same road he did. I do not want you to travel that road either."

"So he gets away with it," Shinji said bitterly.

"He has lost his family," Rei countered. "it is a suitable punishment."

"No, it's not."

Rei felt angered by his indifference. "Shinji-kun!" Rei pleaded, her voice going high pitch in uncharacteristic emotion. "Please don't turn into your father!"

Shinji turned his head towards Rei in surprise. She was shaking in emotion as she looked at him, her face blushed bright red with the effects of the alcohol. "You called me '_Shinji-kun_!'" he said to her.

Before Rei could reply back to him her eyes rolled upwards and she suddenly collapsed, sprawled out on the concrete deck. Shinji immediately went to her, shaking her to try and wake her up. "Ayanami! Ayanami!" He shook her several times and then touched her forehead. Her skin was cold. Panicked, Shinji called out "SOMEONE! HELP US!"


	28. Chapter 27: Revelations

**_Alaska_**

Within an hour after Omega's alert aircraft bearing Evangelion Units 04 and 05 lifted off from Tokyo-3 and raced towards Alaska to intercept the incoming Harpy attack. The flight itself took several hours, during which Patrick just remained inside the entry plug and tried to let his mind go of everything that happened at the party. After seeing Rei wear the blue dress he had really wanted it to be a special night with her and felt he had only himself to blame for it being ruined.

Once over the intended target the extra-large C-5 transport carrying Unit 04 flew low and dropped her overland, close to the Alliance's base on the Alaskan mainland. Mari, who's EVA-05 was equipped with the Evangelion Reconnaissance System, was flown at 30,000 feet above the ground and then launched airborne as they reached the target area.

The Recon system was an experimental set of equipment consisting of wings and four giant jet engines designed to keep an Evangelion airborne while operating. Only intended to keep an EVA flying for a few minutes at a time, the system was constructed by NERV's European branch but never actually used in operations with the Angels. The Alliance had managed to find the prototype and brought it to Tokyo-3 and had now equipped EVA-05 with it much to Mari's glee.

As Unit 05 detached from its carrier aircraft, from the ground Patrick watched on his tactical display as Mari began to hunt for the intruders.

"Unit 05, any sign on visual?" Misato called out on the speakers.

"Negative," Mari replied.

"Keep on it. Your operational time is limited in Recon."

"I'll make the best of it," quipped the pilot.

Patrick also watched his own display for any visual sign of the two Harpies that were supposed to arrive. The plan was that once they were found Mari would attack them while still connected to their airborne carriers, shooting them down before they could launch. Once on the ground Patrick would then overrun whatever was left and finish it off.

"Got them on visual!" Mari suddenly called out. On Patrick's tactical display a pair of targets suddenly appeared high above his own EVA was standing.

"Attack! Now!" ordered Misato.

Mari put the Recon's engines into full power and came diving down on two gray bat-wing aircraft that she saw in front of her. A lance in her EVA's right arm, she called out a battle cry as she came upon the two enemy aircraft by surprise in the dawn light. Before either of the two bombers could react EVA-05 hit one of them dead-center with the lance, breaking up the bomber into pieces and sending its cargo, the attached Mass-Production EVA slug under its belly, pummeling towards the earth. The second bomber veered out of its way and quickly ejected the white EVA it was carrying.

"One target downward," shouted Mari, "one to go."

Inside EVA-04 Patrick watched the display and saw a target rectal form over the falling Harpy. He could see that had sprouted its wings and was trying to get control over its flight. Equipped with a high-powered rail gun, Patrick quickly placed his aim-point on the rectal and watched as the color of the circular rectal change from blue to red. "Fire!" he shouted, commanding the EVA to attack the enemy and a half-second later he could feel the recoil from the giant cannon mounted on the EVA's right arm. A giant flash appeared where the Harpy was and a moment later it dove to the ground below.

High above him Mari swung EVA-05 around and faced the second Harpy. It had flown clear of its carrier bomber and spread its wings fully, bearing a sword in its hands. The Harpy gnashed its giant teeth as flapped its wings, spittle oozing out from the edges of its oversized mouth.

Mari charged EVA-05 at full speed towards the Harpy, charging up the power lance in her EVA's right arm. She throttled the engines at full power and flew straight towards the white giant, her lance's aim centered at the Harpy's chest. Just as she reached it the Harpy pushed back with its wings and swung its sword down on the lance, cutting it in half. It then swung at Unit 05 and just narrowly missed slicing off her leg.

"Playing rough, are we?" Mari chided as she swung Unit 05 back around for another attack.

"Unit 05," Misato called on the speakers, "it's got a limited battery life, don't push the engagement if you don't have a clear shot at it!"

Mari ignored the colonel. "I'll get him this time!" she said in return and then throttled the engines again.

On the ground Patrick had reached where the first Harpy had fallen. Lying on its back in twenty-meter deep recession in the snow, the white monster had spread out its arms wide bizarrely looking like it was making snow angels in the white powder. Patrick didn't waste any time and quickly pulled out the lance strapped to EVA-04's back, then swung it in front of him and bounded on the Harpy's stomach. The Harpy spit out fluid and blood as it tried to regenerate but Patrick quickly stabbed it in the chest several times, enough to penetrated deep through its rib cage and all the way to the entry plug. After a few plunges he was rewarded with a geyser of LCL.

Not wanting to stick around, Patrick searched the skies and saw the airborne battle far above, as the green Unit 05 and the white Harpy continued to parry overhead. He lifted the EVA's rail gun and tried to focus on the target rectal, hoping to get a clear shot at the Harpy when suddenly a stream of images filled his brain. He started to feel chills all over his body and he could feel his emotions suddenly boiling.

_Not again_, he thought as he saw the images. He saw an elevator, there were people and things around him, an underground base, giants that looked like other Evangelions, and then a giant sign of...

Patrick closed his eyes and concentrated _Not this time, gotta push it all back!_

"EVA-04," Misato called out, "are you alright?"

The boy tried to focus and into the center of his mind a young girl appeared. Her hair short, her figure petite, her face beautiful as an angel's. Her dazzling red eyes stared at him in determination. _Yes, that's what I'm really fighting for! _"EVA-04 ready!" Patrick shouted into the speaker.

"Use the railgun and shoot that thing down," Misato ordered. "EVA-05, back off and let him have a clear shot!"

Mari tried to maneuver Unit 05 out of the way of the Harpy but found that it was now flying above her, a position that did not put her to any advantage. She quickly banked left and tried to climb above it, but found that the Harpy was just a bit quicker, its powerful wings able to maneuver it directly in front of her. As she tried to evade the Harpy's sword came swinging down hard and metal shattered all around them.

"Mari!" Patrick shouted as he watched the melee.

"Unit 05, respond!" Misato called out. A moment later Mari's voice came on. "Wing's gone," she said, "I'm losing altitude!"

"Try to get over to that glacier to the north," Misato instructed, then to Patrick she shouted "EVA-04, do you have a clear shot?"

Patrick put the rectal in the red as he heard Misato on the speakers. "Got it." he said and triggered the rail gun. A bold of energy ripped towards the skies and caught the Harpy on its outstretched ring. Falling and screaming as it went down, Patrick took a second shot and put it into the Harpy's abdomen. It plunged and landed a kilometer in front of him, a wave of snow splashing all around it. In another minute Patrick bounded EVA-04 through the snow-covered ground and with all of his mental energy ordered the EVA to toss her spear at the Harpy as it tried to get up off the ground. He watched as a plumb of LCL splashed out of it's chest. The white monster wriggled with its remaining energy and then went limp.

"I'm still falling!" Mari called out as her EVA now dove towards the ground, her voice showing strong emotion.

Kaji's voice came on the speakers. "Ditch the Recon equipment," he ordered, "then full power to your AT field!"

"Acknowledged." The leftover portion of wings and engines of the recon kit was ejected from the green EVA and Mari spread out the EVA's arms, concentrating its AT field in front of it as it fell to the Earth. A minute later it hit the glacier. From the distance he was standing at Patrick could see the steam and ice explode as EVA-05 hit going several hundred miles an hour.

_Ouch, that's got to hurt._ Patrick ran Unit 04 to the glacier at full speed, running until they reached the spot. Up on the top of the glacier he could see where the ice had melted a rough humanoid shape cut into the icy glacier. "Mari, Mari!" Patrick called to her. "Are you okay?" There was an anxious minute of silence before he heard anything.

"They really should equip this Recon thing with parachutes before they send you out there," Mari quipped in good spirits. Patrick breathed a heavy sigh of relief.

"You always wanted to find how to skydive without a 'chute," he replied to her. "Now was your chance." He climbed Unit 04 to the top of the glacier and looked down at the EVA-shaped hole at the top. He could see the green Unit 04 deep at the bottom of it, still looking intact.

"Holy shit, Mari! How fast were you going when you hit this?"

"Did I make a mark?"

"I'll say, you can see a cutout in this thing for miles."  
"A monument to my efforts," Mari smirked. "Now go and get me out of this icebox!"

Patrick was about to move EVA-04 off the glacier when thoughts bubbled up in his mind again: memories playing in fast forward. He closed his eyes and tried to concentrate this time, focusing on what the images were showing him. On the speakers Misato's voice came on.

"Good work, both of you," she said. "Mari, we'll get you out of the glacier in a bit."

"Do hurry," Mari replied, "the entry plug's starting to ice over."

"Colonel Kaji!" Patrick shouted. "Are you there?"

"Yes, Patrick," he responded. "What is it?"

"I've got another set of visions or whatever. It happened while I was fighting those two Harpies."

"Can you tell me what you saw?"

"I think so," said Patrick. "I should sort of write this down."

"No," answered Kaji. "Tell me now while it's still fresh in your mind."

"Okay. Here goes." Patrick concentrated, wanting to get the memories but also wanting to finish and help get Unit 05 out of the ice. He took a couple of deep breaths and then let his mind go into neutral. A moment later the images came to him again. "There's a long corridor, lots of soldiers and stuff around. She's walking around, going around corners and into some sort of atrium."

"Can you describe your surroundings a bit more," Kaji asked him, his attention focused.

"Not sure. See people around wearing uniforms, but not ones I know."

Inside the cockpit of their Thunderbolt Kaji and Misato looked at each other as they listened to Patrick. Kaji had landed the aircraft a minute earlier next to the glacier and was now sitting upright as Misato sat alongside him listening to Patrick on the communicator. "Patrick, what else?" asked Kaji.

"There's an elevator, and we're getting inside. On the wall there's something painted there, but faded. Like a big logo."

"What does it look like?"

"That SEELE logo, the one with the seven eyes? Like that but there's also something like a giant head...or a skull, painted right on top of it, and then something that looks like either a cross or a Nazi symbol."

Kaji's eyebrows shot up. "Are you _sure_?"

"I don't know," Patrick said, "it was just for a moment but that's what it looked like."

"Anything else?"

"Just the elevator and the feeling that it was getting colder. Like this place" Patrick motioned to the Alaska wilderness. He closed his eyes and tried to catch whatever else he could, but the images were now gone from his mind. "Sorry, that's all I can see."

"This is interesting," Kaji told him. "Do you hear or feel anything else?"

"I couldn't make out much, someone was speaking in English right next to her, someone kind of old. Then there's all this noise around, machinery, the elevator and stuff."

"Good," the agent told him.

"One more thing, Mr Kaji. It's what I felt," Patrick said. "That feeling of chills, it's not just the temperature. It's also the feeling inside her, her emotions. I could feel what she was feeling!"

"And what was that, Patrick?"

"She was angry, like raging angry," said the boy. "Does this help at all?"

Kaji was honest. "It does but I need to research this further," he told him, "There's an Alliance base ten kilometers to the North of here. Go there and get the Type K equipment set and bring it back, it will include flame units that can melt the glacier to remove Unit 05."

"Okay, thanks!" Patrick then slid EVA-04 off the side of the glacier and immediately started running north as fast as he could push the EVA to go.

As Kaji and Misato watched the silver-white EVA sprint towards the horizon, Misato contacted Mari again to ensure if she was alright. Mari assured her that she was alright and in good spirits, although just a bit colder and Misato reassured her help was on the way. After ensuring Mari was in good condition, Misato then closed the channel and nudged closer to Kaji as he was in deep thought. "Do you think you know where Erin Forrestal is?" she asked him.

"There's one possibility that matches what he's describing, but I need to confirm for sure," he said. "If she's there and if SEELE's also there it may explain everything."

The two of them sat there in the parked aircraft breathing in the cold air from the open canopy, watching steam coming out of the large hole in the glacier. They both wore parkas over their flight suits, but could still feel the cold chill of Alaskan air as they looked at the dawning horizon. "These are good kids, all of them," Kaji commented as they stared out on the snowy wilderness. "They deserve better than to have to be pawns in this sort of game."

"The best we can do is make sure they're never just by themselves," Misato encouraged. "There's always someone behind them in support. We make the family they've mostly never had."

"Speaking of which..." Kaji said slyly. "I've never known you to ever, _ever_, refuse a drink." He looked at her knowingly, and Misato knew the time to reveal her secret was now. She sighed in resignation, without answering his implied question. "How long did you know?" he asked.

"Right before last night, actually," she said. "It's just the home test, but..."

"Clearly we've been busy."

"Clearly," she agreed, chuckling a little. Misato smiled at him but then changed her expression to something more serious. "Its not that I don't want it, but just right now it's the worst possible time. I can't bring anything in the world if it's all still like this, the war and EVA, and everything."

"Have some faith," Kaji told her, now he was the one being encouraging. "Things like this happen on their own schedule. The timing is meaningful."

"I can't do this alone," she said.

"Then don't. As you say we're in the family-building business, correct?"

"True."

"So then I'd better make an honest woman out of you," said Kaji. He pulled out a small box from his flight suit. Misato's widening eyes went straight to the tiny black velvet box. "How long have you been carrying _that_ around?"

"A few weeks," he said, "a promise made..." He popped open the box, showing the diamond ring inside of it.

"...a promise kept!" she finished as she took the box, gently lifting off the ring and placing it on her finger. Misato looked at Kaji with a widening grin, her eyes misty. "Just don't expect me to go and cook for you every night!"

"Oh, please dear God, no!" he replied in mock horror. "As far as the other benefits go..."  
"Ready, willing, and able!" Misato told him, and immediately threw her arms around Kaji, kissing him full on the lips and then holding him tightly against her. "We're going to make it, right?" she asked him, as she squeezed him as hard as she could.

"We are. I swear it," said Kaji, with as much determination has he had ever said anything before.

* * *

**_Alliance Base Aries, Alaska_**

From the small bed in his cell, Gendo Ikari lay facing upright and watched the clouds go by out the sole window on the wall. Since being moved from Australia, the former commander had been placed alone in a small concrete and steel cage at the Alliance's Alaska base. Barely warm enough to keep a human alive, it was there he had spent the weeks following the Harpy attack at Alice Springs.

With no one to visit him save the guards Gendo just spent the time sitting or lying in his cell, allowing his mind to go overdrive in analyzing all aspects of his current situation and any possible way that he could either evade or capitalize on them.

Still, in two months since his capture the Alliance leadership had made very few attempts to communicate with him. They had also kept him isolated from the outside world, giving him no news of any of the Alliance's exploits versus SEELE or their efforts in rebuilding the world at large. Despite that, the lack of contact and his current circumstances informed Gendo enough about their progress: they were capable of operating EVA, but not at its full capacity. If they had truly mastered the program he would still not be alive, or at least he would be moved and put on a show trial for his eventual execution. Provided what Ikari knew about EVA's true nature and complex engineering, and the fierce determination of the old men of SEELE to have their final say, a crisis would no doubt soon come running his way. Plans were already being assembled in his mind on how to best exploit this.

Somewhere at the core of him Gendo was still a scientist, and all scientists craved new information and the chance to experiment on it. While the splendid isolation of the prison cell gave him ample time and opportunity to lay down intricate plans for his future, it also ate away at his need for discovery. There was no envelope to push in the prison, except for pushing himself. Somewhere as he calculated and analyzed and schemed, there were echoes that entered his brain, memories that evoked sounds and sights he had barely remembered. As he lay there on the bed, he saw through the clouds and memories of a cool, moonlight night many years ago bled into his mind.

**_Tokyo, Japan, 1996._**

_Underneath the bright moonlight the two of them walked together on the sidewalk. The two of them had spent the evening dining and then afterwards went out for a stroll in the tony Tokyo suburb of Minato, where the woman lived in a family-owned townhouse. Dr. Gendo Rokubungi has first seen Dr. Yui Ikari at his work some three months earlier and had found himself immediately smitten by her. At the time he didn't quite know himself why he was drawn to her but somehow the petit young scientist seemed both incredibly graceful and delicate and yet quietly sure of herself in a way unlike any other woman he had ever met._

_After persistent efforts on his part for over three months Yui finally accepted his request for a date. That evening he had taken her to an expensive French restaurant in Minato not far from her family's townhouse, and had a relatively quiet dinner where they had talked mostly about their work at the GEHIRN Artificial Evolution Laboratory. In spending the time with Yui dining and conversing Gendo himself felt increasingly captivated by the beauty that sat across the table, but yet was unable to determine what, if any, real interest she had in him._

_Once they finished dinner he took her for a walk through the streets of Minato, strolling on the sidewalk lit by streetlamps and lined with shops for expensive clothes and goods and other restaurants. They didn't say much to each other on the way, but Gendo kept his eyes fixed on her the entire way. For the date Yui had worn a simple yet elegant lavender dress under a white jacket accentuated with fashionable heels and ivory-colored hose, clutching an expensive handbag as she walked along side. To Gendo, her poise had given her a sense of something like royalty to him and he, who had worn his only good sports coat and slacks of no recognizable brand, had felt so out of place in her surroundings._

_They arrived finally at her townhouse after their stroll. The wind blew gently, as autumn leaves flew down the sidewalk next to her gate. Her face was illuminated by the moonlight as she turned to face him. "Thank you, Rokubungi-sensei," she said, smiling at him. "It was a very enjoyable evening."_

_"You're very welcome, Ikari-sensei."_

_An awkward moment hung between the two of them, as Gendo has wanted to say more but simply couldn't find the way. So close, he thought, and still so incredibly out of reach. _

_"Good night, then. I'll see you at the laboratory on Monday."_

_Missed the moment. "Good night," Gendo replied, and Yui slowly walked up the steps to her townhouse front patio, then opened the front door and entered._

_As Yui closed the door a thousand thoughts rushed Gendo's brain, most of them attacks on himself. _What a coward I was,_ he accused himself, _I had all of these feeling for her for so long yet I couldn't say anything to her. I deserve to be left here. She's unattainable, definitely above my standing_. Gendo resigned himself to failure yet as he stood there in front of the doorway he still found himself drawn to the spot. Something inside of him didn't want to give up no matter what the obstacle was, even if the obstacle was himself._

_He remained that way for more than thirty minutes, standing in front of her doorway and contemplating every angle of every moment that had happened in the last ninety days to bring him to this place and time. It was while he was caught up in this bullet train of thought that the door to Yui's house opened._

_"Rokubungi-sensei?" she said to him, surprised to still see him there. "You haven't gone home yet?"_

_Gendo found himself embarrassed, a condition he had always tried to avoid. "No, I'm afraid," he said to her._

_Still wearing her lavender dress, Yui came down the steps to where he was standing on the sidewalk. "Where is home for you, Rokubungi-sensei?"_

_He thought to lie to her and give her some more well-to-do location such as Saitama or Kichijoji, but he had a feeling that somehow, someway, he could trust her after all. It was an odd feeling for him. Reluctantly, he told her. "It's Ueno, actually."_

_Yui didn't flinch at the answer. "Ueno's not much of a home for a scientist."_

_Gendo gave a broken smile. "Ueno's not much of a home for anyone," he said. "It's the older part of the city, but whenever I have time off I do like to go to the zoo, and to the museums."_

_"Well, I like the zoo," Yui told him, "so that's at least something we have in common." There was a silence between the two of them as the woman sized Gendo up with her eyes._

_"You know," she then said, "we spent the entire evening together but yet for all that we talked I felt I never really got to know you."_

_Gendo's embarrassment deepened. "I'm sorry you feel so."_

_"Don't be," she replied. "I think I can understand some of your reluctance." Yui walked a little closer to him, just in hand's reach. "I find you intriguingly charming, really."_

_"Oh?"_

_"A bit like a little boy trying to play an older man's role."_

She's very direct with her opinions_, Gendo thought to himself, _practically fearless_. "I like to think I have a unique perspective on things."_

_"I think that you would," Yui continued, "and I'd like to know that side of you a bit more." She looked up at him and into his dark eyes and asked "would you like to come inside?"_

_"Oh," Gendo stammered, "I couldn't be so rude!"_

_"It wouldn't be rude at all."_

_"Your family is here?" he asked her._

_"This townhouse is owned by my father, but they don't live here. It's just me."_

_"Seems like a large house for one woman," Gendo said as he looked at the three-story building._

_"Perhaps one day it won't be just for me," she mused. "Come inside. We can sit and talk a bit more." Gendo thought to object again, suddenly fearful of being entrapped by her, but Yui gently took him by the hand, and then led him to the door. The touch of her hand was warm and soft, and Gendo breathed deeply in trepidation as she brought him inside. _

_"Thank you," he said to her as they entered the house, and then "do you drink coffee?"_

_Yui smiled gently at him. "I drink tea."_

The memory broke free of his mind and Gendo lay there as it floated away. He remembered that night, how they spoke until two in the morning, and in the process he laid bare much of his dark past to her. It was the first time he touched her, and he recalled as she gently pried into his own tragic history and then comforted him when his own recollections became too much. That combination of grace, beauty, and gentle strength was what made him love Yui so, the love that then became a searing pain when she was suddenly stripped away. Losing the moment again, Gendo gritted his teeth and pushed his mind harder than before. _I will have you back, _he thought,_ if I have to move heaven and earth again I will have you back!_

* * *

**_SEELE-2_**

Deep within the caverns of SEELE's base, Omega once again made his way to the giant shaft. It was his fifth trip inside the dark, abandoned ventilation chamber and every time before he had entered and left undetected, the last time being just a few hours before this moment. Now something had come up that needed immediate action and he had to risk another attempt at communication with the outside world.

Leaning alongside a concrete ledge, Omega opened up a small case that contained another balloon and signal carrier and started to prepare it when a noise in front caught his attention. He quickly moved to the side of the wall and pulled out a small pistol with an attached silencer. Waiting in the dark, he watched as the silhouette moved towards him. It came closer and in the dimly-lit chamber he saw who it was. He kept his pistol at the ready and very slowly moved out onto the ledge.

"Piotr," he said upon recognizing the shadow, "what are you doing here?"

The older man also held a pistol. "I'm afraid I need to convince you to go back inside, my friend" he told Omega. "They found your last balloon an hour ago. The chairman is furious and is ordering a complete clean sweep of the interior of the base again. If you do this," Piotr motioned to the box with the new message balloon, "you will be caught."

"Are you here to hand me in?" Omega asked.

"No," Piotr replied. "But you cannot do this again."

Omega tried to be convincing. "I need to contact them, now," he told Piotr. "I've discovered something that's critical if we are to succeed, but I have to get the word out."

"That is no longer possible," Piotr told him, still keeping his own pistol at the ready. "If you do this they will discover it, and then they will trace this back to you, and then to me. I will not allow that to happen."

"Risks are part of the job," said Omega.

"Part of your work, perhaps," replied the other. "But not part of mine. I've done enough for you at the moment, and I cannot risk my position any further."

The deep-cover agent thought about the additional hazards if he were to overpower Chairman Kiel's manservant. Unfortunately he needed him to be around, trusted, and cooperative should the end game present itself, and Omega knew that the end was indeed coming soon.

"Very well," he said, taking back the box with the message balloon. It would have to be disposed of later Omega thought, somewhere down the deeper levels of the base close to the lava flows. "But be ready for me to come calling for you. The hour of reckoning will be upon us soon."

"I will be there at the appropriate time," Pitor told him, "this I have promised you. Now go before you jeopardize all of us!" Omega then moved down the walkway towards the door he came in and out of Piotr's sight. As he left Piotr sighed deeply and looked at his pistol. A small, Russian model he had picked up long ago the pistol held only two bullets, one of which was intended for himself. _God have mercy on all of us wretches_, he thought.

* * *

**_ Tokyo-3_**

Outside the girls' suite Shinji stood and waited for someone to open the front door. He ran the doorbell a second time and then it opened. Asuka was standing in front of him, wearing just her nightgown and a scowl on her face that looked the same way that Shinji felt.

"Good morning," he said to her, trying to act friendly. Asuka was having none of it. "Get in here," she growled and then whisked Shinji inside.

Shinji slowly made his way to the kitchen. He could feel a dull throbbing in his head and nauseous in his stomach. When he arrived at the kitchen he plopped down into one of the seats. Asuka herself plopped down into the adjacent seat. Hikari, dressed in yellow pajamas that resembled a Chinese outfit, was standing by the counter as she prepared something for the others. Penpen waddled into the kitchen and walked by Hikari, who quickly bent over to pet him and feed him a bowl full of sardines.

After feeding PenPen Hikari took two glasses and placed them on a tray, carrying them over to the other two. She placed the glasses on the table. Shinji looked at his glass and saw something that vaguely looked like tomato juice.

"Drink it," Hikari instructed the other two teenagers. "It's what I give my dad when he drinks too much sake the night before."

Still in a dazed mood Shinji took the glass without thinking and started to drink it. It tasted salty and sharp. He made a frown as he tried to drink from the glass. "What _is_ this?"

"Please don't ask," Hikari said. She then offered a glass to Asuka who promptly downed it in one gulp. The redhead sat there for a moment and said "that's not so bad." A few seconds later her face went purple in color as the after-effects of the drink became known. "Oh, shit!" she grumbled as she ran to the girls' bathroom. A wide variety of violent gastrointestinal sounds were heard beyond the closed door as Hikari and Shinji watched.

"Is Ayanami-chan alright?" Hikari asked Shinji as they turned their attention back to each other.

"I think so," he told her. "They admitted her to the hospital and then Dr. Foch told me to not worry. I got back last night around midnight. Patrick went on deployment."

"So did Lusty-chan," said Hikari. "I hope they're alright." She moved back to the counter and picked up a box filled with other food items and closed the top. "I need to go to the Boys' suite and take care of the other two," she said. "Please tell Asuka 'bye' for me."

"I'll do that," Shinji said softly.

"Shinji," Hikari said, "I'm glad you could be Toji's friend. You're really good at being that, you know."

"I guess."

"Asuka knows it too. See you later, then." Hikari then took the box and then left the kitchen, making her way out of the suite.

A moment after Hikari walked out of the front door, Rei shuffled in. She was wearing hospital pajamas and walked straight to the kitchen.

"Ayanami!" Shinji exclaimed on seeing her. "Are you feeling better?"

Rei sat down at the kitchen table. Her expression was completely emotionless, reminding Shinji of the way she used to be when he first met her. "I am fine," she replied in a monotone voice.

"The way you passed out scared everyone," Shinji told her, pouring hot water from a kettle into a teacup that was sitting in front of her.

"There is no permanent damage," Rei replied, sullenly staring straight at him.

The two of them heard loud gurgling noises from the girls' bathroom as Asuka tried to flush out any remaining taste in her mouth from Hikari's hangover cure. She then left the bathroom and returned to the kitchen, looking decidedly more refreshed.

"Ah, that's better," Asuka said as she sat down again. For a couple of minutes the three pilots all sat there at the kitchen table in an awkward silence, as PenPen loudly slurped the last of his sardines and drank out of his beverage bowl.

"Look, if you're not going to…" Asuka started at Shinji.

"I'm sorry," he blurted out.

"I thought you were all over that daddy stuff," she chided. "They've got him locked up at least. Better than my dad. When we went to Germany I had to sit there and have that asshole treat me like crap."

"I remember," Shinji said.

"Exactly! But at least I don't bring it up here. He's there and that's that. Better to just focus on piloting."

"It was that room," he told her. "It just brought back what happened after the 13th Angel."

"You're still here, aren't you?" Asuka shot back at him. "And so is Toji. He's even walking again. So what the hell's the problem?" She narrowed her glance at him. "Grow up, will you?"

"I guess I should wait a few years for my next drink," Shinji wondered aloud.

"You were honest," Rei told him from across the table as she sipped her tea.

"I can't let it go," the boy told the others in resignation. "I'm sorry, Ayanami." Rei said nothing in return, but just sat there. All three of them stared at each other in silence for a while as Rei sipped her tea and Shinji just looked downcast at the table.

Impatient with his attitude, Asuka slid her chair over to Shinji's side. As she moved close to him, he didn't look up but kept staring downward. Asuka then pounded the top of his head hard.  
"OW!"

As Shinji reacted to Asuka's strike she quickly grabbed both of his cheeks and kissed him square on the lips as Rei silently looked on. Pain converted to relief as Shinji's arms went limp and he closed his eyes until she finished. Asuka then pulled herself away, giving him a stern look as Shinji opened his eyes and looked at her.

"Don't think I'm not capable of mercy," she admonished, "but don't ever embarrass me or yourself like that again."

"Okay," Shinji said, not really in full agreement but enough to get out of the argument with Asuka.

"Don't just sit there," she said to him. "Go clean something. You'll feel better." Shinji nodded in agreement and then got out of his chair, hurriedly grabbed an apron hanging from the kitchen door, and then left the room. Asuka let out a long sigh and turned around to face the still very stoic Rei.

"I swear I have to do all of the thinking for him," she said aloud. "Idiot. I wouldn't even date him if it's wasn't for the good of the project."

"That's incorrect," Rei corrected.

"Who asked _you?_" Asuka scowled. "Go fix your own boyfriend problems!" Rei didn't react but just continued to sit and stare at the redhead.

The two girls just sat there silently at the table for the next few minutes until Shinji's voice was heard from outside. "Uh, Asuka?"

"What?!"

"I think you'd better see this!"

Asuka rolled her eyes, wondering what Shinji could have found that would have gotten him so excited while cleaning up. When he came running back into the kitchen she found out the reason why.

Shinji handed Asuka a white plastic rod with bunny logos and a display window with two red lines in ink. The look on his face was pale. "Is this what I think it is?" he asked Asuka.

Her eyes went wide in recognition as she gasped. "It's a pregnancy test!" she blurted out. Asuka immediately looked over to Rei's side of the table. "You're pregnant!" she accused.

That remark finally got an emotional response out of Rei. "It is _not_ mine!" she said with a sudden firmness to her monotone voice.

"Well," Asuka chuckled nervously, "it's _obviously_ not mine! Oh, no, not Hikari! I always thought she was such a goody two-shoes!"

Shinji nearly bit his tongue in frustration, realizing that he had left out an important part of information. "I found it in _Misato's_ bathroom!" he corrected.

"Oh, no!" Asuka exclaimed. "She's carrying _his_ baby?" The three of them looked around at the kitchen, suddenly noticing the wide variety of alcoholic beverages that were stocked all around them.

"She's so irresponsible," cried the redhead. "There's no possible way we can let her carry a child in such a dangerous environment." Asuka stood up from her chair and pounded on the table. "We have to _do_ something!"

"Agreed!" Shinji said with a conviction that was the equal of Asuka's. She looked at him with steely determination. "If that child is going to have any chance at a normal life we _must_ intervene!" All disagreements between the two were suddenly put behind them and they clasped their hands together with unified purpose. Asuka looked over to Rei. "Are you in on this?" she asked her. Rei stood up from the table and nodded firmly.

"Very well," replied Asuka, who then crossed her arms in a commanding pose. "Operation Stork will now commence." She pointed to the cases of sake and beer on the kitchen floor. "Baka Shinji!" she ordered, "dispose of those bottles immediately!"

Shinji looked at the alcohol. "Some of those are pretty pricy," he commented.

"I don't care! I'm not going to risk Kaji's baby no matter what the cost. First," she commanded Rei. "Clean out the refrigerator! Eliminate anything in there that's a threat!"

"_Hai_" Rei said in agreement.

"I'll clean up the cigarettes she hides in her bedroom," Asuka, "and whatever other garbage I can find." She clapped her hands loudly to get everyone else rolling. "Hurry, both of you! She'll be back from deployment before you know it!" Shinji and Rei nodded in agreement and then everyone quickly went to their tasks.


	29. Chapter 28: The Temple of Love

After EVA-05 was retrieved from the glacier it had crashed into, it was dragged into a clearing where the entry plug was partially ejected and Mari was able to finally exit, shivering from the cold temperatures inside the plug. The EVA was then towed by Unit 04 several kilometers to the Alliance's base in Alaska, and then loaded into a C-5 airlifter to be flown back along with EVA-04 to Tokyo-3 in the evening. As the two EVAs were returned to Japan, Mari was found to be in good health and both her and Patrick crashed asleep inside another Alliance aircraft that also carried Misato, herself tired but unable to sleep with so much now on her mind. Kaji had flown back to Tokyo-3 earlier, partly to debrief their superiors and also to investigate what Patrick saw in his linked vision with his twin.

_Tokyo-3_

That evening Kaji showed photographs taken of the two destroyed SEELE Mass Production Evangelions as Commander Vinson and General Sheffield watched. "As you can see, these units were still on battery power," Kaji pointed out with a holographic pointer at the large screen in Commander Vinson's office. "They still haven't managed to deploy any other Harpies with an S2 engine installed."

"They're running low," Vinson commented. "Scraping the barrel of their capabilities."

"Did Unit 06 show up this time?" Sheffield asked.

"No. Unit 04 did a careful scan and no other EVA units were found besides these two."

Vinson rested his chin on his hand in thought. "Was anything useful recovered from the carrier bombers that were hauling these two bastards?"

"Yes. Both were on autopilot, with only enough fuel for a one-way trip," said Kaji. "Apparently there was no intention to retrieve the EVAs once deployed. There was nothing in their on-board computers that indicated the location of where they came from."

The two senior commanders looked at each other and then at their intelligence chief. "This was a high-risk strike against what they consider their most high-value target besides us," said Vinson. "SEELE clearly wants Mr. Ikari dead."

"At least our internal security is holding up," observed Sir John. "There's been no successful attempt to penetrate Aries base and get to him from inside."

"What are they so scared of is what I'm wondering," Vinson told the British general. "Any luck on cracking him?"

Sheffield shook his head. "I'm afraid not, he's quite determined. Perhaps he knows his true value and is patient enough to wait for the right offer to come across his table."

"Well, keep him on ice for a while longer," Vinson ordered. "Seems that we're able to get along without him at the rate we're going." The commander then turned to Kaji, "We'll keep working on the base location still. We had a lead that it was in the Himayalas, we're planning a recon mission there to see if that's where they're hiding."

"Understood, sir."

"Also, tell Colonel Katsuragi that her pilots did well today, despite having a damaged EVA out of it. Get some rest yourself."

"Yes, sir. Thank you." Kaji turned to leave the commander's office when Sheffield called out to him. "Oh, Colonel Kaji?"

"Yes, Sir John?"

"Did you hear anything else from the Forrestal boy?"

Kaji cocked up an eyebrow. "I thought you didn't put much value in his visions?"

Sheffield shrugged. "I don't, but it can't hurt either. There could be something to it in the end, somehow."

_So you do believe him!_ "I've heard nothing from the boy since the last time."

"Very well, Colonel. Thank you." Kaji took his leave and left the office.

* * *

Misato returned to the girls' suite late that night, exhausted from the events of the last two days. With the rest of the girls already in bed she was able to go her bedroom and finally sleep for a few hours. Awoken early the following morning, Misato tried to get back to sleep but couldn't, and craving something she stumbled into the kitchen.

Entering the kitchen without turning on the lights, she stood silently in front of the refrigerator. Misato put her hand to the handle, hesitating as anxieties, wants and worries all crowded into her mind.

_It's still so small right now_, she told herself. _Just a little bit will be okay. Besides, after everything in the last couple of days I really need a drink. _Misato gulped down her guilt and then opened the refrigerator door. Inside she found the usual food items and some leftovers, juice, milk, and ice coffee, and condiments and sauces. Strangely to her there was no beer left inside, or even sake.

_Damn, I leave these kids alone for too long and they get into my stuff. Oh well, I've got more around her somewhere._ Misato closed the refrigerator door and looked for her box of sake that was next to it, fumbling in the dark for the box she found it was also gone. It was then that the lights in the kitchen went on.

Misato turned around and saw Shinji, Asuka, and Rei standing by the kitchen doorway, each dressed in sleep clothes. Rei had her finger on the light switch as Asuka held a large bottle of sake in her hands. "Looking for this?" Asuka said to her with a scowl.

"Yeah!" she said. "Just for a night cap." Misato looked around the kitchen and saw that there were a lot fewer boxes stacked against the walls, and that none of the remaining ones contained any alcohol at all. "What the hell did you do with all of my stuff? Have a party?!"

Not wasting any time, Asuka sat down at the kitchen table and slid over the pregnancy test to Misato. The older girl gasped at her secret now being revealed in this way, but found she couldn't admonish the children for trying to do right by her. Losing the challenge, Misato sat down across from Asuka, her face in a slight pout. Asuka then started the interrogation as the others looked on. "How long have you known?"

"Just since the night before," she said honestly. "I haven't even seen the doctor yet. It might not even be accurate just a false..." Before Misato could finish Asuka slid over a second test across the table, still sternly looking at her. Misato saw the second test and let out a long breath of frustration.

"It_ is_ Kaji's, isn't it?" Asuka accused.

"Of course it is!"

"Then if you're carrying Kaji's baby you are going to have to learn to be a lot more responsible," she said as she pointed a finger at Misato. "It's a good thing for that kid that we're here, otherwise God knows what sort of mess you'd bring into the world."

"It's not like that at all!" Misato defended. "Look, I…I was just weak for a moment, that's all. A lot happened in the last day or so."

"Such as?"

"This." Misato showed her left hand, wearing Kaji's diamond engagement ring.

On seeing the ring, some part inside of Asuka's heart sank but she tried not to let it show. "If you're going to be carrying Kaji's child I am not going to let you have a moment of weakness. We all know what a horrible mother you're liable to be, and I'm not going to let Kaji or that child suffer because of your lousy behavior."

"Hey, I watch over all of you!" Misato fought back. "I think I know a thing or two about responsibility."

"Then you do your job and we'll do ours," countered Asuka. Shinji and Rei nodded in unison.

Misato thought to continue the battle but then just smiled instead. _I'm lucky to have them here really_, she thought to herself, _'cause there's no way I can do this on my own anyway_.

"Okay," she said to the three of them. "I promise I'll be good from now on, but it won't be easy for me. I'll need your support!"

"Then we'll take care of you for this," Shinji said, smiling a little. "After all, this is a good thing, right?" Misato nodded in agreement. "It is. It's just the timing that is messed up, that's all." At that moment PenPen waddled into the kitchen, walking up to where Misato was seated. He looked up at her with doting eyes.

"Couldn't sleep either, huh?" she said as she picked him up. "That's okay. Mommy's here, isn't she. You're going to have another playmate coming soon!" The penguin cooed as she gently stroked its head. Asuka's expression finally softened as she watched mother and penguin together, smiling as she leaned against Shinji, who then put his arm around her. "You know," Misato started, "It's not for me but when he can't get to sleep sometimes I need to give PenPen a little beer or…"

"NO!" the pilots all shouted in unison.

* * *

When Patrick returned to the GeoFront earlier that afternoon he went straight to his room in the Boys' suite and slept deeply from exhaustion. He woke up early the next morning and didn't go out for a while, instead he stayed in his bed and inside his mind played back the night of the officers' ball in his mind.

_Well I really screwed that one up_, he admitted to himself after lengthy reflection. _Of course Rei wouldn't want anyone interfering with Shinji's relationship with anyone. I just never expect her to be so attached to Asuka. I guess they all fought the Angels together, they might be a lot tighter than I expected_.

_Time to face the music_, Patrick thought. He wondered what Rei would say to him the next time he saw her. Would she give him the silent treatment, as she sometimes seemed to when she was upset about something? Or would she be direct and confrontational? The fear in the back of his mind was now really coming out, and that fear screamed a message to his brain that said _It's over._

Patrick didn't want at all to believe this could come between them, but knew he couldn't just stay in bed and run away from it either. He picked himself up, got changed into a t-shirt and camouflage pants, and slowly made his way to the suite's front door.

Nearly every morning since they had been together Rei had greeted him at the front door when he came out. She was never late and she didn't knock, instead just waiting until he opened it. Somehow she was always there on time, and Patrick was never quite sure how long she waited for him to open.

Being nervous if she was there this morning or not, Patrick quietly looked out the security video screen for the front door. Rei was indeed standing in front and to his surprise she wore the blue dress from the previous night, although she didn't put on makeup and kept her legs bare. Through the camera she saw that her head seemed to hang low and he couldn't see her eyes. He had privately hoped everything might blow over in the last day, but her very silent expression in front of the door told him she was still upset. With no other options, he swallowed his pride and opened up the door to face her.

For a minute after Patrick opened the front door the two of them stood silently facing each other. Patrick breathed hard, working up the courage to say what he wanted to say to her. "Rei, I…I'm really sorry about…"

He didn't get to finish. As soon as he started talking Rei immediately rushed towards him and pressed herself against him, burying her head in his chest. She began quietly sobbing as Patrick reflexively put his arms around her.

"Are you _crying_?" he asked her. She didn't answer at first but continued to bury her face in his chest, shaking with emotion. "Why? I'm the one who was a jerk."

"I was so afraid for us to fight!" Rei said under the sobs. "I watch the Second and Ikari-kun arguing all the time. I do not want us to be like that!"

Patrick squeezed Rei tighter, feeling relived as well as more endeared with her. "I did something wrong, and didn't consider your feelings, or anyone else's. I shouldn't have gotten in the way with Shinji there that night."

Rei responded to him as she tried to calm herself down. "You wanted to help Illustrious-chan, yes?"

"Yeah, I did."

"I understand it now," she said. "You did not intend harm."

"But hearts are fragile, even yours. I could have done that whole night a lot better." She didn't reply but instead wrapped her arms around him, and Patrick ran his fingers through her hair.

"You don't like fighting, do you?" Patrick asked her. Rei shook her head.

"Then I'll just let you win from now on."

"Forri-kun," she asked him. "Is that a joke?"

"Yes."

"Then it is a bad one."

Patrick chuckled at her reply and it helped warm the mood for both of them. "I see you wore the dress again," he said to her.

"Yes. Do you like it?"

"I did, I mean I do! I really do! You look beautiful wearing it!" He looked at her for a long moment, gently touching her cheeks as she calmed herself down more. Rei lifted her head up and looked at him, her deep red eyes quivering with emotion. To Patrick the expression on her face seemed lonely and wanting: this lonely angel didn't like being lonely anymore, and he wanted nothing more in the world to be sure she never would be again. Her eyes met his and she took a few more deep breaths as she worked out something in her mind.

"What is it?" Patrick asked her. Without saying anything, Rei grabbed him by the hand and started dragging him towards the elevators.

Their journey took twenty minutes as Rei silently led Patrick up and down and throughout the GeoFront. Eventually through an accessway that didn't look used by anyone she brought him to a set of stairs and they both went up. At the top was a part of the GeoFront Patrick had never seen before.

Patrick looked around and saw what had been an elaborate garden, surrounded by marble columns and settings. Many of the marble pieces were now collapsed on the ground, fallen over from damage that he thought had probably happened in the Battle of the GeoFront. Waterfalls were now spilling over to parts of the ground and vines and plants were outgrowing their furrows. In their need to prioritize repairs on more essential things the rebuilt NERV had not tended to this little place, Patrick realized, but he could tell that despite the wreckage this glade had great significance for Rei.

As Patrick looked around, Rei walked over to one reflecting pool that still looked at least partially intact, although pieces of marble and the remainders of uprooted plants were poking outside of the pool. She sat down on the edge of the pool and gently moved her hand through the water. Her motions made small ripples that moved to the other edges of the reflecting pool and there was a soft plopping sound as it did so.

Rei let her hand move through the water some more and then looked upward. Now seated next to her on the edge of the pool was Patrick. He wasn't smiling, but had the look of determination on his face. She took his hand and held it in her own, and she took her other hand from the pool and touched his face with it. He put his other hand on top of hers and at that moment a gentle breeze was felt by both of them. Neither one of them said anything to the other.

She closed her eyes and in an instant his lips were against hers, kissing her over and over as she brought both of her hands to his face and held it between them. Patrick's kisses then became deeper and she felt the sensation from them tingling over her entire body. Knowing that she wanted more of this, Rei then released her own deeply held passions and met each kiss with one of her own and held him tightly against her as they sat by the pool.

In being parted with him even for just one day, Rei had realized just how deep her feelings now really were towards the boy who held such strange attraction for her. As he had slowly and patiently pursued her, Rei had tried to let her guard down one step at a time while still holding onto some part of her earlier, solitary life. Now as they were reunited from their momentary squabble, she found that she no longer wanted to hold back. She wanted to feel him beside her, she wanted to be held, and she wanted to be loved, and be filled with new memories of happiness surrounded by the fallen marble columns of her secret place in the glade as a gentle wind blew by them both.


End file.
